ROURKELA: With campus size getting reduced gradually, the future expansion of Government Autonomous College, Rourkela (GACR) is reportedly at stake as the institution and its neighbouring area is yet to receive land ownership.
The GACR has started as Rourkela Science College at sector-4 in August 1961. After being taken over by the government in July 1963, the college shifted to its present campus at Panposh. Accorded autonomous status in 2022, the institution is reportedly built on 51 acre of land.
With government land increasingly becoming scarce, the GACR was in 2005 forced to part with around 16 acre land on the southern side where the mega Rourkela One of the Rourkela Smart City Ltd (RSCL) is coming up.
Later in 2021, the district administration took away another five acre of the college land on the western side to rehabilitate shopkeepers for renovation of the Panposh market complex, another project of the RSCL worth Rs 45 crore.
Rourkela tehsildar CK Mallick said the GACR is in possession of 35 acre land. “The institution had sent a proposal for alienation of its land six months back and necessary steps in this regard are being taken,” he added. In-charge principal of GACR Bijay Behera, meanwhile, refuted the tehsildar’s claims and said after demarcation they were asked to submit alienation proposal for 30.14 acre and not 35 acre.
Sources said of the 30.14 acre land of the college, around two acre are illegally occupied for auto-rickshaw stand, road, public toilet and temporary shops. Owing to this, construction of boundary wall is not possible on the western side which compromises with the campus safety. Besides, intrusion of anti-social elements during nights is a regular affair, they added.
GACR campus runs junior and degree colleges, PG courses along with branches of IGNOU and Odisha Open University with combined student strength of about 8,000. It is on an expansion mode with many ongoing infrastructure projects, while several others are in the pipeline.
GACR alumni association convener Girish Mohapatra said the association for long has been demanding upgradation of the GACR into an affiliating university to cater to the needs of colleges in Sundargarh and adjacent districts.
“The GACR needs adequate land for expansion and has demanded the district administration to immediately restore the five acre land on its western end besides transferring available adjacent government land to the college,” Mohapatra added.