BHUBANESWAR: Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday stirred a huge controversy by pressing for changing the name of Odisha’s most prestigious Ravenshaw University at Cuttack.
Even as Pradhan stressed that the need to rename the top university of Odisha was his personal opinion, he called for a debate on the issue among the academicians, intelligentsia and other sections.
Speaking to mediapersons at Cuttack on the occasion of local self-governance day, the Union minister questioned the role and contribution of Thomas Edward (TE) Ravenshaw, after whom the Ravenshaw College (now university) has been named, during the ‘Na’anka Durbhikhya’ or the Great Orissa Famine of 1866.
“The name of Ravenshaw University should be changed. Why did the catastrophic famine of 1866 take place and when it happened, what was Raveneshaw Saheb who was then the British commissioner of the state doing? Is there any pride attached to the people who were responsible for the misery of Odias,” Pradhan asked.
He said Odia people should think why a prestigious educational institution like Ravenshaw University should be named after a person like Ravenshaw.
The minister’s opinion, though, triggered a backlash with many saying Ravenshaw College is an intrinsic part of Odisha’s history and renaming it will wipe out its past glory.
Former DGP AB Tripathy, who was the president of Ravenshaw University Development Trust from 1994 to 2015, termed it a political gimmick. He said the Na’anka Durbhikhya was the result of negligence by the Board of Revenue in Calcutta and had no connection with Ravenshaw college.
“In fact, the name Ravenshaw College was not given by Ravenshaw himself. Instead, it was proposed by one of the illustrious sons of soil Maharaja Krushna Chandra Bhanjadeo. It was on his proposal that Cuttack College was renamed as Ravenshaw College in 1878, after the departure of TE Ravenshaw as commissioner of Odisha,” he said.
Tripathy also said if names of high courts are not being changed, there is no need to change Ravenshaw University’s name.
Former administrator of the university and alumni member Satyakam Mishra agreed. He said TE Ravenshaw’s contribution to education in Odisha cannot be denied and there is no link between the famine and university’s name.
This is, however, not the first time that the issue has been raised. Back in the 60s, a proposal to change the name of Ravenshaw College was made by a section of people which was opposed by academicians and college alumni members.
The college was established by the British in 1868. Considered one of the oldest and prestigious higher education institutions of the country, it got autonomous status in the 1990s and was finally upgraded as a unitary university on November 15, 2006. The college was originally affiliated to Calcutta University and thereafter to Patna University in 1917 and finally affiliated to Utkal University in 1943.
Today, it is the only public university in the state to have got NAAC A++ grade.