SAMBALPUR: Work for the permanent campus of Odisha State Open University (OSOU) at Badsinghari has taken off with the construction of the boundary wall. A 40-acre land has been earmarked for the campus on the outskirts of the city. The Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC) is executing the work.
OSOU Vice-Chancellor Arka Kumar Das Mohapatra and registrar Manas Ranjan Pujari visited the site recently to take stock of the work. Pujari informed that the OPHWC has set a target to complete the boundary wall construction by May this year.
It has also been decided to start construction work of the administrative building soon and a firm has already been awarded the work. The administrative building will be completed within 18 months, Pujari added. As per the master plan, the administrative building, academic block, library, skill development centre, multi-media centre, computer center and a guesthouse will come up on the permanent campus.
Since the World Bank has sanctioned Rs 15 crore to OSOU, the authorities have decided to construct the boundary wall and administrative building in the first phase. Other facilities will be developed later.
The OSOU is coming up near the place where the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur (IIM-S) is being set up.
Currently, OSOU is operating from a small facility on premises of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU). Sources said if everything goes as per plan, the varsity is likely to start operating from its permanent campus by the end of 2022.