BHUBANESWAR:Work on the rural campus of Utkal University will begin in three to four months.
The Higher Education Department has asked Jajpur Collector to identify 100 acres of land in the district for the second campus of the State’s premier university.
The rural campus of Utkal University to be set up at Chandikhole will act as a centre for imparting vocational training to youths. It will be set up at a cost of Rs 50 crore and the focus would be on improving employability of Odia youths. An announcement in this regard was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the students’ union function of Utkal University in February.
Jajpur Collector Satya Mallick said the site selection committee of the district administration has short-listed three sites for the purpose at Chandikhole. “The problem is that finding exact 100 acres of land for the rural campus is not feasible at a location like Chandikhole. But we will finalise one of the short-listed sites soon after consultation with the State Government,” he said.
Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahy informed that work on the rural campus will begin in the ensuing 2015-16 academic year. “We have decided to start the work in the new academic session. Once the land deal is finalised by Jajpur administration, construction work would begin in three to four months,” he said.
As far as skill training is concerned, the rural campus will use modern tools and techniques in order to increase employability of youths and for the purpose, the focus will be on industry-institution collaborations.
With Jajpur district witnessing massive industrialisation, this campus will cater to skill development needs of youths and manpower requirement of industries, the Minister added.
The existing campus of Utkal University in the Capital City is spread over an area of 399 acres and it provides affiliation to 267 colleges, making it the biggest affiliating university in the State.
