The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) has reportedly turned down the approval by the State Planning and Co-ordination department to set up a branch of its institute in Sambalpur.
In a recent letter released by the Planning and Co-ordination department, XIMB was allocated a grant of Rs 10 crore for the proposed institute in Sambalpur. The proposed institute was supposed to be a general management unit offering Human Resource Development programme and other specialisations. with an intake capacity of 120 students. But senior XIMB officials stated that they will not be using the grant unless XIMB is granted the university status. They cited the decision of All-India Council of Technical Education for not giving approval to new professional courses from 2014 onwards. “Unless university status is provided to us, we cannot act on the grant or think of a new branch,” a senior XIMB official said.
If the university status is approved on time, then XIMB can think of opening the new proposed branch as there would be no fear of closing the courses midway. In a letter by the Planning and Co-ordination department, officer on special duty R V Singh has stated that the proposed institute in Sambalpur would have 33 per cent seats reserved for the students of Odisha and 20 per cent seats reserved for the SC and STs.
Another branch of the XIM has been proposed in Balangir with similar terms and conditions. The Employment and Technical Education and Training had been directed to facilitate the establishment of XIM in Sambalpur, but without the institute’s assent, there cannot be any progress.