SAMBALPUR: The Odisha State Open University (OSOU) has got the green signal for establishing its own permanent campus on 40 acres of land at Badasinghrari on the outskirts of Sambalpur town.
The land, which belonged to the Fisheries and Animal Resources department, has been transferred to the Revenue department so that the necessary procedure for its transfer to OSOU can be completed.
Vice-Chancellor of OSOU Prof Srikant Mohapatra said it has been decided to construct the boundary wall and administrative block in the first phase of the project with funds sanctioned by the World Bank after the University gets possession of the land.
OSOU is currently operating from the premises of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) here. Prof Mohapatra said owing to inadequate space on the GMU premises, accommodating students enrolled with the open university has emerged as a challenge.
Since its inception in 2015, over 2,000 students have passed out from the university and 10,000 students are pursuing various courses at its 50 study centres at present.
The land allocated to OSOU is adjacent to the site earmarked for the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur.
A consultant has already been assigned the responsibility to prepare a master plan for the open university campus.
Professor Mohapatra said the University has provided all required specifications to the consultant and the proposal will be forwarded for approval to the Public Works Department.
The Vice-Chancellor said the University will seek the State Government’s approval for its master plan for developing the campus.
He said the Government will also be urged to revise the recruitment process of teaching and non-teaching staff as per the norms of University Grants Commission (UGC) for open universities.
At present, all the teaching staff at OSOU have been engaged on ad-hoc basis.