SAMBALPUR: To tide over the shortage of classrooms, Gangadhar Meher University has started work on a new three-storey academic building with the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) funds.
The new academic ‘Annex’ building is being constructed over an area of 756 square metre and will have 15 new classrooms. It will be an extension of the existing academic building which houses Odia and Sanskrit departments.
The cost of the project has been estimated at around Rs 2.64 crores and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which is executing the work, has targeted to hand over the building to the university authorities within 12 months.
After GMU received Rs 27.5 crore for various development works under RUSA in 2018, the authorities had decided to give priority to construction of more classrooms.
Currently, around 5,500 students are enrolled in 23 departments of the university. However, there are only 40 classrooms to cater to all the students. Sources said GMU needs at least 30 more classrooms.
Deputy Registrar of GMU Uma Charan Pati said, “Shortage of classrooms has been a long issue of the university. The problem has aggravated now as the number of departments has also increased. Once ready, the new academic building will solve the problem to a large extent.”
The university will soon start work on an administrative block. Once it is completed, the offices of VC, Registrar, Deputy Registrar and other administrative sections will be shifted there.