The report is available at http://dheorissa.in/DHE/pdf/FinalTaskforceReport.pdf. Although the report took into account many of my suggestions I am not completely happy with it. I plan to submit a separate individual addendum to it.
Please feel free to comment on the report. I may be able to take them into account in my planned addendum.
The executive summary of the report is as follows:
Task Force on Higher Education was constituted by the Government of Odisha on 7th October 2009 under the chairmanship of Prof. Trilochan Pradhan as requested by the Minister of Higher Education, Tourism and Culture, Sri Debi Prasad Mishra. The mandate of the Task Force was to prepare two annual plans for years 2010-11 and 2011-12, two five year perspective plans corresponding to the 12th and 13th plan periods respectively as well as a draft higher education policy. During a period of four months the Task Force completed eighteen interactive sessions, two State Level Workshops and five Regional workshops, one each in North, South, East, West and Central Regions of the State. In addition to this, sectoral consultations were organized with stakeholders of School and Mass Education, Technical, Medical, Agriculture and Management sectors. The suggestions of the members of the Task Force and citizens from all sectors of the civil society have been received through email, surface mail, written submission and discussions across the table. The Task Force has taken into consideration all these in the preparation of the report. The report embodies the collective endeavour of the members of the Task Force and the stakeholders of regional consultations.
The key recommendations of the Task Force are in three major areas, namely Restoration, Expansion and Consolidation covering the periods of 2010-12, 2012-17 and 2017-22 respectively. Expansion, inclusion and excellence have been the guiding principles of the deliberations of the consultations.
Key Recommendations
1. State Council of Higher Education (OSCHE): A State Council of Higher Education, in the lines of the NCHER, needs to be created. Financial provision must be made in the budget for creation of the council in the coming financial year. Many of the recommendations of the Task Force would be implemented by the OSCHE.
2. Delinking Higher Secondary (+2) from the ambit of Higher Education: The +2 classes need to be separated from the degree colleges. Budgetary support to augment infrastructure and funding from Rastriya Madhyamit Sikhsya Abhiyan (RMSA) may be used to make this a smooth transition.
3. Degree Colleges: All degree colleges should adopt semester system and choice based credit programmes. All vacant posts must be filled with permanent staff. Selected autonomous colleges may be made into branch campuses of universities. Teachers should be regularly evaluated to ensure accountability.
4. Universities: Model University Act. Statutes should be drafted so that universities may use their autonomy for better governance. All regular vacant positions of the universities should be filled up on a priority basis. Faculty need to be regularly evaluated to ensure accountability. Programmes of the universities need to be revamped and choice based credit system may be followed. Each university campus should have about 50 affiliated colleges and a few identified research centres. Each university must have up-to-date web site with all information about the university.
5. New State Universities and Branch Campuses: A number of new affiliating universities, unitary universities, branch campuses of existing universities, a new University of Management Education and a new State Open University have been recommended. Suggestions for locations of these institutions have been received in the consultation process after assessing the educational need. An expert committee may be formed to look in to these and come up with final locations based on the detailed project report based on feasibility.
6. Attract Private Edupreneurs: Private universities should be established through Acts passed by the state legislatures.
7. Set up Research Centres: Establishment of research centers of excellence in various areas of local relevance must be pursued and these should be affiliated with the existing universities and institutions of national importance such as IIT, NISER, IIIT etc. Central funding for the same must be vigorously pursued to strengthen the existing and planned research centers.
8. Enhance Quality of Education: All plans for expansion must have a major thrust on enhancing quality of education. Hence due care must be taken for developing skills of teachers for enhancing teaching-learning transaction, creating conducive academic environment, improving the learning infrastructure, putting technology enabled learning into practice wherever possible, reforming examination systems, need-based revision of curriculum, etc.
9. Engineering Colleges: The existing state funded engineering colleges need to be revamped and their vacant positions need to be filled at the earliest. In addition 5 new State Institutes of Technologies have been proposed in the model of NIT with a focus on post-graduate education to mainly cater to the faculty needs in the state.
10. Medical Education: By 2022 each of the 13 undivided districts of Odisha should have one operational medical college, be it private, state funded, or PPP based. The three major medical colleges of the state should be upgraded to affiliating Health University status so that institutions in medical and allied subjects such as nursing and pharmacy etc. can be brought under their fold. A Rural Health Practitioner (RMP) program should be introduced in conjunction with all district hospitals to address the critical shortage of medical practitioners in the rural areas of the state.
11. Skill and Vocational Education: Odisha should create a community college system imparting skills that are in demand and providing opportunities for distance education, nonconventional career progression, developmental education, and continuous learning.
12. Education Development Fund: Financial mechanisms need to be devised so that all deserving students can access the opportunity to pursue higher education and finance should not be a constraint. Similarly no educational institution should suffer from lack of long-term low interest capital to pursue their goals of development. For this purpose, Education Development Fund should be set up along the lines of the Educational Financing Corporation being contemplated by the central government to enable infrastructure development as well as provide study loans.
13. From Mineral Resources to Human Resources: All private and public sector companies that are using Odisha’s mineral resources must be encouraged to contribute in creating higher education institutions.
14. Public Private Partnership: Encourage public-private partnership mode to set up institutes of higher learning. The proposed OSCHE needs to have a mechanism to monitor and regulate such efforts for the larger interest of all the stakeholders.
15. Financial Implication: The Task Force proposes that the State funding for Higher Education must increase to meet the cost of proposed expansion. The Task Force has estimated resource requirement of about 55000 crores over a period of 12 years to implement its recommendations at current prices. Similarly it is estimated that similar amounts may be generated through private sector projects and centrally funded projects.
16. Taking advantage of the Central Government Schemes: Taking advantage of the central government’s ambitious plan to achieve 30% GER by 2020, the state should seek all available resources under different schemes such as those for establishment of National Innovation University, IIM, National Institute of Design, Model colleges in Educationally Backward Districts, Tribal University etc. Besides all effort must be made to emphasize the special need of the state to develop its infrastructure in the remote tribal areas and priority funding must be.
Phases of Implementation
The Task Force proposes the following plan for implementation of the above recommendations:
i. Restoration and Preparation for Expansion (2010-12)
a. Separation of +2 from higher education and integration in School Education
b. Filling up of vacancies in regular positions
c. Setting up of Model colleges in educationally backward districts
d. Initiate the establishment State Council of Higher Education and other legislative
actions needed to carry out the recommendations.
e. Set up communication laboratories and high speed broad band internet access
f. Set up Management Information System and e-admission
g. Prepare ground for rapid expansion
ii. Rapid Expansion (2012-17)
a. Set up new affiliating Universities and institutions
b. Set up Unitary Universities by up-gradation of existing institutions
c. Set up branch campuses
d. Take initial steps for setting up research centres
iii. Consolidation (2017-22)
a. Expand Technology Enabled Learning
b. Strengthen quality initiatives
c. Strengthen governance through State Council (OSCHE)
d. Mobilisation of additional resource
The Task Force has taken note of the hopes and aspirations generated through the whole process of its activities. The major recommendations based on the inputs received from the stake-holders centre around three important areas: i) Creation of new institutions, ii) financing of higher education and iii) bringing governance reforms. Hence the Task Force recommends to set up a committee to advise the Government to work out further details.
June 25th, 2010
It involves land contribution from the state of Punjab and financial contributions from four industrialists for a total of 200 crores. Following are extracted from a Times of India report.
- The Punjab cabinet has finally given the green signal for the allotment of a fresh parcel of 70-acre land within the upcoming Knowledge City in Mohali for the second campus of the premier B-school.
- to be set up at an investment of Rs 200 crore and will be funded entirely by donations from four India Inc top guns:
- Max group founder and chairman Analjit Singh,
- Bharti group CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal,
- Atul Punj of Punj Lloyd and
- the Munjals of Hero group.
For its part the ISB administration have roped in top foreign universities to collaborate in the establishment of four schools. Following is excerpted from a report in Economic Times.
- The ISB has joined hands with the MIT Sloan School of Management, to develop two new institutes at the ISB’s upcoming campus at Mohali -
- The BML Munjal Institute for Manufacturing Excellence and Innovation and
- The Punj Lloyd Institute for Physical Infrastructure Management.
- In addition to the two institutes mentioned earlier, the school will also establish the
- Max India Institute of Health Care Management and
- Bharti Insititute of Public Policy.
- The ISB will continue to have the support of its founding associate schools such as the Wharton School and Kellogg School of Management. The ISB also has the support of the London Business School (LBS) as an associate school.
April 18th, 2010
1. From a Times of India Report.
Targeting a production of about 500 tons of silk by 2020, Orissa government decided to set up a State Sericulture Research and Development Institute (SSRDI) for speedy growth of the sector.
2. From a Business Standard report:
Indo-US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) — an initiative by the Pan IIT Alumni Association — has taken up a US co-guide PhD initiative wherein faculty members of Indian engineering institutes would be able to obtain PhDs in a four-year period, with the mentoring of distinguished US faculty.
… Under the arrangement, interested PhD candidates in India, who are currently teaching in engineering colleges, will identify and register with a PhD guide at an Indian PhD granting institution. The PhD candidate will identify his area of research interest.
If there appears to be matching of interests between an Indian PhD candidate and a US faculty, IUCEE will facilitate the process forward.
Also, the PhD candidate will make a trip to the US institution of the co-guide to ensure exposure to high quality research culture. The co-guide will also visit the Indian institution, to ensure adequate mentoring of the candidate.
… IUCEE is also exploring various avenues for requesting government of India to provide schemes for this purpose.
3. From a Times of India report:
Three of Maharashtra’s premier universities—Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur—will be split to create new universities.
…Spelling out some details, Tope said the University of Mumbai would be split into two campuses, with a pro vice-chancellor becoming the head of the new campus. The name, though, would not be altered, given Mumbai university’s iconic status, he added. He was replying to a discussion on the supplementary demands of his department.
… Maharashtra has also revived the plan to bring private universities into the state. Tope said that plans were afoot to help the corporate sector play a key role in the field of education. The Private University Act is being finalised in this connection, he pointed out.
April 16th, 2010
As evident from http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4229 Odisha needs to have more private universities, some of them in backward areas and with medical colleges, some with unique foci, and at the same time it needs to avoid having 3rd rate money spinning universities. Based on these constraints following is a first take on a guideline on how Odisha should go about allowing foundations and organizations to set up private universities in Odisha. These are preliminary thoughts, so your feedback is most welcome.
0. A foreign university that is a research 1 university in the US, or has a similar standing in the other foreign countries. (For example, they must appear in the top 300 in the Times UK ranking or the Sanghai Jiao Tong ranking.)
1. Foundations headed by people with multi-billion dollar assets and with interest in building a world-class university e.g. Anil Agarwal foundation, Azim Premji foundation, Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation, etc.
2. Foundations associated with organizations that have world-wide presence and demonstrated ability to raise sufficient money (say $100 million = 400-500 crores) to establish a top-notch university. e.g. Art of Living Foundation.
3. Foundations that have built top notch educational institutes in India (in some field). I.e., their institutes or colleges in their universities are ranked in top 20 in India in various rankings. e.g. Xaviers, Amrita University, BITS Pilani, etc.
4. A foundation that has at least one well regarded university in another state and that guarantees investment of 200 crores. e.g. ICFAI may satisfy this.
5. Existing private deemed universities in Odisha. e.g. KIIT, SOA.
6. Existing colleges or college-clusters in Odisha that have been in existence for 10+ years and are among the top 3 in Odisha in terms of student preferences that can be evaluated using the common counseling data. e.g., Silicon, NIST. [Initially 2-3 universities may be made based on this criteria and there after at most 1 university every three years can be created based solely on this criteria.]
7. Existing colleges or college-clusters in Odisha that have been existence for 10+ years, are in the top 40% in terms of student preferences that can be evaluated using the common counseling data and serve a tribal district (40% or more tribal population) without a university. E.g. Gandhi Institute in Gunupur; JITM Parlakhemundi. The head quarter of a university created this way must be in the backward district and more than 50% of its students must be enrolled in that campus. [Initially 2-3 universities may be made based on this criteria and there after at most 1 university every three years may be created based on this criteria.] (The goal here is to encourage establishment of universities in tribal districts.)
8. Existing colleges or college-clusters in Odisha that have been in existence for 5+ years, are in the top 50% in terms of student preferences that can be evaluated using the common counseling data and that have a medical college, preferably in a district without a pre-existing medical college. e.g., Hi-Tech group may satisfy this, and would be a preferable candidate when its medical college in Rourkela is up and running. [Initially 1-2 universities may be made based on this criteria and there after at most 1 university every two years may be created based on this criteria.] (The rules are relaxed here to encourage establishment of more medical colleges in districts that don’t have any.)
9. A institute that has a strong partnership with a Research 1 university in the United States or similarly recognized university in other foreign countries. By strong partnership we mean that the foreign university is willing to list this location as one of its branch campus and gives degrees that have the emblem of the foreign university. (This is to encourage collaboration with top foreign universities.)
10. A unique institute, in existence for more than 5 years, preferably promoted by a foundation with past experience in building a university, or by an internationally reputed academic. By unique, we mean something whose equivalent does not exist in the country. e.g., KISS
April 11th, 2010
UCE Burla becoming VSSUT and the hiring of dynamic vice Chancellors at VSSUT (Prof. D K Tripathy from IIT Kharagpur) as well as at Sambalpur University (Prof. Arun Pujari from the University of Hyderabad) has given a huge momentum in making the Sambalpur area a knowledge hub and together with similar progress at Rourkela a western knowledge corridor is now in the making. In this write-up we will focus on the greater Sambalpur area ranging from Bargarh in the west of Sambalpur to Jharsuguda and Sundergarh in the north and north east.
- Universities: Two exists; 2 more in the making
- There are two universities with dynamic leadership at their helm: VSSUT and Sambalpur University
- Sambalpur University has received approval and funding for a SU-IIT (Sambalpur University Institute of Information Technology) and is pursuing a sports institute.
- VSSUT has significant expansion plans.
- There is a proposal to upgrade GM college to a unitary university.
- The health minister had announced to upgrade VSS Medical College to a university.
- Branch of OUAT in Chipilima.
- Engineering Colleges: Besides VSSUT, there are five more engineering colleges in the area. 2 in Baragarh, 1 in Jharsuguda, 1 in Sundergarh and 1 in Sason (Silicon West).
- Management Institute: XIMB plans a campus in this area.
- Centrally funded Institutes: IIHT (Indian Institute of Handloom Technology) in Baragarh.
- Research Institute: CIFT Burla.
- Other Colleges: Panchayat College Baragarh, NSCB College Sambalpur, Govt. Womens College Sambalpur, Govt. College Sundergarh and Govt. Womens College Sundergarh.
- Demography: See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2715
- Infrastructure:
The above gives the current status of this area. In addition to the efforts mentioned above, following should also be pursued.
- The VSSUT must be upgraded to a national level institute such as an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology)
- An STP must be established in Sambalpur.
- Operationalization of Jharsuguda airport must be expedited.
- One of the central government departments such as CSIR, DAE, Sc & Tech, etc. needs to open a research center here.
- The Orissa government should push to upgrade the VSS Medical College to the AIIMS level.
- Establishment of private medical colleges in this area must be encouraged.
- The OUAT college in Chipilima needs to upgraded and expanded
- A regional university (similar to the old regional engineering colleges, with 50-50 partnership between the state and the central govt.) should be established in Jharsuguda. (This could be part of the 12th five year plan starting from 2012.)
- A state university should be established in Jharsuguda during the 13th plan. (by 2020)
- A state university should be established in Baragarh during the 13th plan. (by 2020)
- Considering the rapid industrialization of the area, the Govt. Engineering School in Jharsuguda should be upgraded to an engineering college, perhaps as a constituent college of VSSUT.
NOTE on Comments: Only constructive comments will be allowed. Please do not submit comments that advocate separatism, conspiracy theories, shifting, badmouthing, etc.
March 14th, 2010
The link is http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/report/12.pdf. This was published in November 2008 with 500 printed copies. Its been recently put in the UGC website at number 12 in the page http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/.
This 300 page document has all kinds of data on higher education in India and is a must read for anyone interested in higher education vis-a-vis India.
An Expressbuzz report by Sanjeev Patro tries to distill out some data with respect to Odisha from the above document. It is a good start and it made me look for the original document (Thanks), but I think a more careful analysis is needed.
March 1st, 2010
Following are excerpts from this news item.
- … general universities should be set up in all districts of the state. There are, at present, nine such universities in the state. The aim is to have one general university in each district, or one university for every 100 colleges. This means that ideally, there should be at least 22 such universities in the state’s 29 districts.
- Another important vision of the council is to make the universities and colleges work round-the-clock as learning centres.
“At present, colleges are isolated units, active only in a limited period. It is necessary to make them work round-the-clock, through the year, as learning centres. We would also like to grant greater autonomy to more colleges,”
Following are excerpts from this news item:
- Have you thought of studying Biology with Hitory or Physics with Economics? Have you thought of taking a break from the regular confined course to take a break at any point of time and continue whenever you want? Wouldn’t it help if you had a choice on choosing when to write your exams? How would you feel if you had a choice of changing the University within the State in the middle of your course? Students from Karnataka can expect their dreams come true.
- … students can change a subject midstream — from Arts or Science or Commerce — instead of going through the fixed combination. They can change, not only the subject combination, but also the university. This concept is based on the Cross Learning System in Universities in US and Europe.
January 14th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-Universities-are-for-bringing-subjects-together-/560254.
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of students in colleges and universities in Gujarat is still pathetic according to UGC. Tribal areas in the state have a high school dropout rate. What needs to be done in Gujarat?
There is a community college system in the US, which is very flexible (unlike the polytechnics in India). In this system, the class hours are highly flexible. As part of the adult education, the students can enrol for any subject. But in India, we have strict rules such as a student should be a matriculate, etc. In north Gujarat, artisans are doing fine work in Bandhani (tie and die). No one else can do that. There should be a system that can educate them separately so that they are literate enough to use their skills in a better way. I do not believe in measuring methods such as GER. A minimal education is important but it is the skills that make a person knowledgeable. Gujarat may have private or deemed universities, but they are for the classes and not for the masses.
December 28th, 2009
After studying the university systems in major states of US and taking into account various feedback received my latest thoughts on the expansion of the university system in Orissa is at http://www.orissa2020.org/proposed-university-system-of-orissa. The highlight of the proposal is as follows:
- Two new regional universities: Western Orissa University Bhawanipatna and Central Orissa University Angul
- One new general unitary university: Rourkela University
- One new Metropolitan University: Bhubaneswar Metropolitan University
- Upgrading of two colleges to new unitary universities: GM and Khallikote
- Five new specialized Universities: Tribal University (HQ Phulbani), Sports University (HQ Rourkela), Skill University (HQ-TBD), Health University (HQ-TBD), Education University (HQ-TBD)
- Several new branch campuses of existing universities to reduce affiliation load on existing universities with a clear path on how they can become independent universities. Each branch campus will have enough independence to chart its own course. Special attention paid to branch campuses at Balangir, Phulbani and Keonjhar.
- A clear road map for development of comprehensive western style universities that have multiple disciplines, including engineering and medical colleges.
I would appreciate any feedback on this. Please read the details at the above mentioned site.
December 15th, 2009
Following is from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55906.
LOK SABHA
There are two institutions at the National level viz. Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education (LNUPE), Gwalior and Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala imparting physical and sports education at graduate and post graduate levels in addition to conducting diploma and certificate courses. The Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil informed the Lok Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Sh. Sajjan Verma. The sports being State subject, the Ministry does not maintain data regarding sports universities in the States and also State Governments are expected to take necessary steps to promote sports universities, the Minister added.
RM/AS- PQ 2 – USQ 3998 – LS
In http://www.orissa2020.org/sports-university I have proposed the establishment of a Sports university in Orissa with HQ in Rourkela. The programs that could be offered by the sports university may include:
- Coaching
- Refereeing and Sports officiating
- Physical Education
- Sports journalism and broadcasting (together with a nearby journalism school)
- Sports management (together with a nearby management school)
December 15th, 2009
Earlier this year Delhi College of Engineering became a state university and changed its name to Delhi Tech University. On November 10th, after 100 days of its completion as a university its VC had the following to report.
The Vice Chancellor informed the gathering that four new undergraduate courses and six new postgraduate courses have been added from 2009-10 in areas of high relevance to the country. "Nano-Science and Technology, VLSI Design, Microwave and Optical Communication, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Power Systems are the areas in which DTU has made a modest yet committed beginning," he said. The University has also forayed into management education this year by establishing ‘Delhi School of Management’ to offer MBA program in innovative areas like knowledge and technology management.
With a view to encourage excellence in education and research, DTU has established an ‘Innovation Fund’ with a seed money of Rs. 10 lakh and has introduced cash awards of Rs. 10,000 for the toppers of each semester, in each discipline and Reward of Rs 10,000 for faculty members who publish research papers in International Journals of High Impact Factor. The University has also recruited about 22 new faculty members at various levels recently.
… The thrust areas of R&D at DTU are going to be Biofuel and Clean Energy Technologies, Future Automobile Solutions, Nano Scale Devices and Photonics, New and Smart Materials, Conducting Polymers, Broadband on Power lines, Info Security and Network Management and Socially Relevant Technologies
Following are some quotes from another article about this.
"The total student strength in DTU will be almost three times of its current student intake in the next five years", the VC says.
The VC also announced the beginning of new programs including dual degree programs and integrated Master’s programs in areas of relevance to our country in Medical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Bio-informatics, Clean Energy and Environment Technology, New and Smart Materials and Nano-Technology.
Speaking to an NNE correspondent, the VC said that DTU’s board of management has already given its nod to construct a multi-storey academic block; a teaching block housing ICT enabled lecture theatres and additional hostel facilities for both boys and girls.
"As a part of our academic and research plan we shall set up transform selected research laboratories as world class test houses cum research centres, establish a knowledge park cum Technology Incubator in DTU campus to foster i2IP, student and faculty led techno-enterprises and facilitate effective industry institution interaction," Prof. Sharma added.
A finishing school in partnership with the industry and alumni to further boost employability of their graduates is also in the wish list of the VC.
A Staff College for Tech faculty development will also be set up in DTU to support the Faculty Development mission.
Following are excerpts from another recent article on this.
In an endeavour to attract the best talent to teaching and research, a leading technology university here has initiated 25 teaching-cum-research fellowships (TRFs), including 20 at the doctoral level and five at the post-doctoral level. …
Each teaching-cum-research fellow will be enrolled for a full-time Ph D. programme and will take 10 hours per week of teaching work at the B.Tech or M.Tech levels, a DTU statement said.
The incumbents will be initially appointed for two years, which will be further extended depending on academic and research performance.
The expenditure involved in the grant of TRFs has been estimated around Rs.60 lakh per annum, the statement said.
The first ordinance of the university relating to B.Tech. courses has already been approved by the government. The ordinance for M.Tech and MBA programmes was approved by the DTU board Saturday.
Highlighting the achievements of the institution during the last three months, DTU Vice Chancellor P.B. Sharma told the board: "Apart from a major R&D tie-up with US aerospace major Lockheed Martin for developing a next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle,the university has entered into a collaboration with the Groupe Des Ecoles Des Mines of France to foster collaboration, provide opportunities for global experience and facilitate advancement of knowledge in the field of engineering."
Overall Delhi plans 6 specialized universities. Following is an excerpt from an article about this.
Titled `Delhi as the knowledge capital’, and jointly organized by the Department of Training and Technical Education, government of NCT of Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU), the conference on Wednesday discussed a strategic framework for giving shape to the varsity system. Three out of the six universities are already functional. They include the National Law School University (NLU), IIIT-Delhi and Dr B R Ambedkar University.
"Under the new model of higher education, a number of discipline-focused smaller universities are being set up, which would be managed by a common apex system. The new institutes planned are the University of Science and Technology, University of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, and University College of Medical Sciences,” said Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta.
The conference is being seen as a platform for creating a plan of action for the proposed initiatives of the Delhi government. It also discussed the public-private partnership model (PPP) of education where the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) was cited as an instance. In this system, a majority of the affiliated colleges are privately run.
The above has some lessons for Orissa, its VCs and its higher education task force. In particular, the VC of VSSUT, Burla must take note of the speed at which Delhi Tech U is moving. The VSSUT VC must take the opportunity provided by the document being drafted by the Orissa higher education task force and put into it a visionary plan for VSSUT. In regards to BPUT it may have a new VC soon. Hopefully the new VC will help BPUT Rourkela transition from an administrative unit operating from Bhubaneswar to a real university operating from Rourkela.
The VSSUT VC has announced some plans. Following is an excerpt from http://www.alumniuce.com/messages.asp?id=300.
(1) VSSUT is going to organize its First Convocation to award degrees to its 2009 batch graduands in December -2009/January-2010 in the auditorium with an invitation to a reputed personality from the country to deliver the convocation address as Chief Guest.
(2) A Webgroup with teachers and students be formed to develop and maintain our University website to make it one of the best website in the world.
(3)Construction of one 600 seated Boys hostel and 60 seated guest house.
(4) A digital library and 24X7 internet connectivity in the university campus, students hostels and staff quarters.
(5) Appointment of 39 new teaching faculties in next three months time and Phone, PC and Internet facility in individual faculty office rooms.
(7) Revision and Up gradation of Curriculum taking IIT-Kharagpur as a model.
(8) A Big Notice board at the Entrance near Golden Jubilee gate for coverage and information of all events of the University.
(9)Construction of A Big bounded campus with New staff quarters.
(10) Construction of another big auditorium with 2000 capacity.
Following is an excerpt from http://www.alumniuce.com/messages.asp?id=297.
Our priority will be to make the institution as one of the best of the country and for this we are planning to introduce few new branches of engineering courses. Textile engineering is one among them which will help to strengthen the development of the Sambalpuri fabric. We also plan to introduce Nano-science technology, Bio-medical engineering and surgical engineering soon”, the vice chancellor Dr Tripathy told.
According to him, several modification and changes are to be taken place in the infrastructure of the institution once it becomes university. But since it requires lot of expenditure we want to change it in phase manner. “I am meeting the industry secretary soon to place our immediate requirement. I am hopeful the government would give proper attention to solve the problem of the institution. We have shortage of faculty members. About 44 new faculty members are required immediately. So we advertise this in our website and soon we are able to fill up the posts”, Dr. Tripathy told.
These are good steps. VC Tripathy should take the Delhi Tech Univ plans as well has his own plans to our government and use that to leverage more support from the government.
In this regard I would like readers to comment on some future directions for VSSUT. We will collect those and give it to VSSUT VC as well as to the higher education task force. Thanks in advance.
November 22nd, 2009
Rourkela is the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa with an official metropolitan population of 550,668 but perhaps much more (at least 700 K) if one takes into account nearby places like Biramitrapur and Rajgangpur. It is probably the most cosmopolitan area of Orissa. Because of its steel plant it has world-wide name recognition. It has a lot of young talents; I am told that Rourkela youngsters have done much better in entrance exams like IIT JEE than from other parts of Orissa. Rourkela and the Sundergarh district have produced many national hockey players (both male and female), some of whom have gone on to captain the Indian national side.
Being an important station in the Mumbai-Howrah line, Rourkela is very well connected to both. The National Institute of Technology at Rourkela is often ranked among the top 5 NITs of the country; in recent years it has done much better and is in the process of starting a business program. Rourkela also has two private engineering colleges and at least one more is in the works. Rourkela has at least two good magament schools: Rourkela Institute of Management Studies (sometimes ranked nationally) and Indian Institute of Production Management, Kansbahal.
Overall, Rourkela has the potential to be a Tier II city of India at the level of Vizag, Chandigarh, etc. But unfortunately, that has not happened so far and active organized efforts need to be made to achieve that.
So here I will list some of the things that should be pursued so that Rourkela becomes a Tier II city of India.
Knowledge and HRD aspects:
- Metropolitan University: Rourkela is perhaps the largest metropolitan area of the country, or may be the whole world which does not have a general university. This needs to be rectified at the earliest. IMHO, the best model to follow would be of Delhi University. So a Rourkela Metropolitan University should be established with graduate programs as well as with a few constituent colleges spread (offering Bachelors as well as Masters degrees) across the metropolitan area, but with no affiliated colleges. The exisiting government colleges in Rourkela (Govt. College, Rourkela; SG Women’s, Rourkela and Rourkela College) would be made constituents of this university.
- Medical College: Although a WODC sponsored PPP-based medical college is in the works, we must continue pursuing an ESIC medical college here. SAIL, which is making a medical college in Bokaro, should also be pushed to establish a medical college here.
- BPUT: BPUT must become fully operational from Rourkela.It needs to have real departments and centers and offer its own courses. It should be expanded to have programs in Science and Humanities.
- Research Centers: The state should pursue one of the central government departments such as CSIR, DAE, Sc & Tech, etc. to open a research center in Rourkela.
- Centrally funded University: At some point a centrally funded university should be pursued for Rourkela.
- More private institutions: Rourkela has the population base and the amenities that metropolitan areas offer to have more private institutions such as engineering colleges, management institutions etc. A multi-pronged apporoach should be taken.
- Local big industries should be cajoled to participate in this. For example, SAIL is also planning an engineering college in Bokaro. They should be pushed to have one in Rourkela.
- Local people should also open private institutions on their own.
- Educational foundations inside and outside state that have developed good private institutions should be approached and invited to open institutions in Rourkela. Inside Orissa, institutions like Silicon and NIST should be approached.
- STP: The STP at Rourkela should be expanded.
- IT/BPO: Because of the cosmopolitan nature of Rourkela, it would be a good place for BPO and call center operations. This should be pursued.
- Sports Institute/University: Sundergrah district is considered by many to be the Hockey cradle of India, both in men’s and women’s hockey. It has produced both Men’s and Women’s hockey team captains in Dilip Tirkey and Jyoti Sunita Kullu. Orissa government should pursue to establish a National Sports Institute (of the kind in Patiala) in Rourkela. It should include programs in physical training, coach training, official training etc. This would specially contribute in the enhancing the employment opportunities for Adivasis who constitute 50.74% of Sundergarh’s population.
Connectivity Aspects:
- Rail Connectivity -Trains: While the connectivity to Mumbai and Kolkata is marvelous, connectivity to other places needs improvement. Dilip has a good list of new trains needed for Rourkela at http://rourkelarail.wetpaint.com/page/DEMANDS. This list is:
- Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express( Day Time)
- Rourkela-Berhampur Gajapati Express
- Rourkela-Secundarabad/Hyderabad Express
- Trains to New Delhi from Bhubaneswar via Rourkela OR Rourkela-Nizamuddin/New Delhi Express (Any extension of Ranchi-Hatia or Tatanagar trains will also work)
- Trains to Patna and Eastern U.P.
- Rail Connectivity-Others: The Talcher-Bimlagarh line must be fast-tracked.
- Roads: The 4-laning of the state highway 10 connecting Sambalpur and Rourkela must be expedited.
- Air Connectivity: Rourkela airport must be made functional with commercial flights at the earliest.
Metro area:
- A larger metropolitan area for Rourkela that includes Kansbahal and Rajgangpur in the west and Biramitrapur in the North must be formally established.
- The state government should pursue Rourkela to be included in JNNURM.
(The above is from Google Maps.)
(The above is from "sarini: Occasional papers, No. 4, Adivasis of Rourkela")
Work in Progress…
November 15th, 2009
October 30th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in expressbuzz.com.
The Centre has sanctioned funds for establishment of Government polytechnics in 14 districts of the State.
Each of the institutes will receive a one time grant of Rs 12.30 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development while the State Government will take care of the recurring expenditure, including staff salary and administrative expenses.
The Government polytechnics will be located in districts having no such institutes.
Orissa has 13 technical institutes including three women polytechnics offering diploma courses in various trades. However, these institutes are limited to only nine districts and most of them are located in coastal region.
The new polytechnics will be opened in seven Naxal-affected districts of Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Jajpur, Nayagarh and Deogarh.
The other districts selected for the Centrally assisted technical institutes are Boudh, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Sonepur.
Sites for the proposed polytechnics have been selected in respective district headquarters.
The Government will provide at least 10 acres of land for each of the polytechnics free of cost.
The new polytechnics will start functioning from the next academic session. …
According to a conservative estimate, each polytechnic will have at least 50 staff. The Government will take a decision on recruitment of staff on permanent or contractual basis.
The Government had already submitted a proposal to the Centre for financial assistance for opening Government polytechnics in the remaining seven districts.
October 29th, 2009
Regardless of the attempt to industrialize Orissa, for a long time to come a large number (perhaps majority) of people in Orissa will still use agriculture for their livelihood. Also various reports mention that Agriculture is the top focus of the current government in Orissa. With that in mind, I am thinking to push for a second Agricultural University in Orissa. Many other states already have more than one agricultural university. (See the lists here, here, the ICAR list and the wikipedia entry.) I would like feedback on what would be a good location for the second Agricultural University in Orissa.
My initial instinct says Bhawanipatna/Kesinga, as I have heard about Kalahandi’s agricultural potential; also that location creates a good geographical balance. That was probably one of the main reasons the government earlier announced an agricultural college in Bhawanipatna. If I could get some more supporting data and arguments I would like to push that the proposed agricultural college in Bhawanipatna be made into a university and become the second Agricultural University in Orissa.
October 26th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in India Journal.
The government of India is planning to establish 10,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in rural areas across the country for imparting technical training to youths.
Minister of State for Planning V Narayanasamy announced this while inaugurating the first national convention of rural institutes, organized by the National Council of Rural Institutes, here Oct 19.
“We have opened the flood gates for foreign investment in the education sector. Our thrust is on expanding the educational infrastructure in the rural areas by opening more institutes and universities,” the minister said.
He said plans were afoot to set up one rural university in each backward and tribal clusters across the country. Besides, 25,000 schools would also be set up in rural areas under the Public-Private Partnership mode.
Some of the existing Rural Universities in India are:
Looking for the "New Education Policy of the Nation reflects the principles evolved here in developing the rural university concept " I came across the document at http://www.ncri.in/html/english%20finacial%20guidlines.pdf which mentions this policy, but this policy was made in 1986 and revised in 1992. There is no mention of "Rural Universities" in the 11th plan. I guess the minster’s staement above may be referring to the upcoming 12th plan. If that is the case, it is a great idea to pursue it now.
If indeed as the minsiter says, a rural university is established in each backward and tribal clusters across the country Orissa could go after at least 3 such universities: one in the KBK district cluster, one in the Gajapati-Kandhamal district cluster and one in Sundergarh-Mayurbhanj-Keonjhar district cluster. In this regard we must watch out the pages of the National Council of Rural Institutes.
October 23rd, 2009
Earlier in http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3327 I mentioned the mechanism to provide formal feedback to the Higher Education Task Force. I have received some feedback. Among them I highlight two of them below as they are good examples of feedback that has a good chance of having an impact.
The first one is about the Paradeep region. The complete feedback is at http://www.orissa2020.org/paradeep-area. Following is an excerpt from that feedback.
- To develop and upgrade the Orissa Maritime Institute, Paradeep excellence at par with a world class institute.
- To start a National Institute of Port Management at Paradeep on the lines of Fire institute, Nagpur well equipped for port engineering and designing, keeping the new upcoming port in the state and the country.
- To start a National Marine Research Institute specifically keeping the Olive ridley, mangroves, and marine ecology in the surrounding area.
- …
This feedback is extremely valuable as I had no idea that there was a Orissa Maritime Institute in Paradeep. It proposes institute that are very specific to Paradeep and it is obvious how Paradeep is the right location for these institutes. I would request others to consider giving feedback in a similar style: specific to a particular location. If one has ideas and knowledge about multiple locations, then please consider giving them separately. One can of course give feedback in whatever style they want. But my gut instinct is that feedback in the above style has a higher chance of having an impact. The task force just has to look at the bullet points and if convinced add it to the specific plans for that region.
Here is another example of a good feedback. It is about the Hinjilicut region and the complete feedback is at http://www.orissa2020.org/hinjlicut-area. Following is an excerpt.
A. Science College, Hinjilicut (Established in 1963) is the 2nd best College in the district after Khallikote College, Berhampur. There is a long demand for opening PG Stream Courses with MBA and MCA!!! Hope you would take care by converting its Status to an Autonomous College as a best regard to this district.
B. Women’s College: In memory to Late Gyan Patnaik, request to open a Women’s college (at least a State level institute) at Hinjilicut as you can notice towns like Bhanjanagar / Aska / Chatrapur / Digapahandi are having Women’s college, but we are yet to start a Women’s college in this Town.
The complete list of areas that I hope to be able to push for is at http://www.orissa2020.org/home/area-wise-plan. Based on my knowledge I have made some initial bullet points for some of those areas. I would appreciate your feedback on specific areas in that list.
October 22nd, 2009
Notifications
This is a perfect time to give feedback about higher education in Orissa. I think feedback given through the official feedback mechanism has a high chance of being read and by the right people. In general, it helps if the feedback is short, to the point, and based on logic. Some of my initial thoughts are at http://www.orissa2020.org/ . Any feedback on that is most welcome.
October 20th, 2009
Following is from a report in Pioneer.
The committee will study the present scenario of higher education in the State in all sectors, including industries, agriculture and medical.
The committee has been asked to suggest measures and means to improve the situation and bring it at par with international standards, keeping equity, excellence and inclusion of focus areas.
It will also suggest a draft higher education policy for the State. It will also prepare two annual action plans for 2011 and 2011-12 and two five years perspective plans for the State corresponding to the 12th and 13th Five Year Plan period up to 2021-22.
Besides the core objectives, sub-committee will be formed to examine expansion and structural configuration, quality and curricular concerns, governance issues including autonomy and regulatory systems and financing of higher education.
Higher Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said five regional consultative workshops will be held in Cuttack, Balasore, Sambalpur, Jeypore and Berhampur to elicit opinion of the intelligentsias and stake holders. After the regional workshop, a State level workshop will be held in Bhubaneswar.
The members of task force are:
- Professor Trilochan Pradhan: Founder and Retired Director, Institute of Physics and Ex-Vice-Chancellor of the Utkal University
- Prof KL Chopra (former Director, IIT Kharagpur), NBA
- Prof DP Pattnaik
- Prof DP Ray, VC, OUAT
- Prof AK Pujari, VC, Sambalpur University
- Prof Sunil Sarangi, Director, NIT, Rourkela
- Prof Chitta Baral, Arizona State University USA
- Prof Priyambada Hejmadi (former VC)
- Prof Swadhin Patnaik, Director, Institute of Mathematics
- Mr. Abani Baral
- Prof DV Raman, XIMB
- Prof LN Mishra, former Utkal University VC
- Prof Rabindra Ku Nanda, former Prof in Chemistry
- Prof Damodar Acharya, Director IIT Kharagpur
- Dr. Rajib Sahu, Resources Consultant
- Dr Achyut Samant, UGC member
- Mr. Madhusudan Padhi, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Higher Education
In addition there will be many special invitees. As per a Times of India report, they include:
- All other vice-chancellors of universities in the state (Utkal, Berhampur, NOU, FMU, Ravenshaw, BPUT, VSSUT, Culture U, KIIT U, SOA U, NLUO, CUO, Sri Jagannath U)
- Director, NISER, Prof Chandrasekhar
- Ex-state information commissioner Radhamohan
- Director, IIIT, Bhubaneswar, Prof Gopal Nayak
- Commissioner-cum-state project director, OPEPA
- Director of higher education
- Director of secondary education
- Director of elementary education
- Director of technical education and training
- Director of medical education and training
- Prof Bhagaban Prakash
- Chairman, HDF, Prof D K Ray
- Prof Dhanada Mishra
- Prof M K Mishra
- Retired principal, R D Women’s College, Prof Bijaya Mishra.
Some of my initial thoughts are at http://orissa2020.org. (A lot of the thoughts there have been shaped with discussions with many people, especially Dr. Digambara Patra.) Please write me with your suggestions and feedback at orissavision2020@gmail.com. As various people know more about the areas they have had some connections (grew up there, went to school there, etc.), thoughts about particular town/city/district/area are most welcome and will be appreciated very much.
[I received a very thoughtful feedback about the Hinjlicut area. Since I did not know the exact details about where Berhampur is growing, where Hinjlicut is growing etc., the feedback helped me to better think about that area. Such ground level feedback is most welcome and very much appreciated.]
However, please do have a state-wide perspective.
The Central government, the knowledge commission as well as the state government are serious about improving the GER from 12.4% to 30% by 2020. The Knowledge Commission has recommended that the number of universities in India go up from 350 to 1500 and that there be 50 national universities. The higher education budget has been going up from one 5 yr plan to another; so I expect that during the 12th and 13th plan there will be more central and national universities. So a lot of new universities, colleges and institutes will be established. Plus, there may be opportunity for extension campuses of exisiting institutes, similar to IISc Bangalore’s plan for an extension campus in Chitradurga, Karnataka. So if we plan properly, we can mitigate a lot of inequality and incorporate a lot of inclusiveness. Please watch out for this blog as well as the site http://orissa2020.org.
My membership in the above committee, puts certain restrictions on my public activities. In particular, it means that I can no longer publicly campaign for X or Y issue (including the ESIC issue).
October 8th, 2009
Update: The following was written before I saw this article in Pioneer.
Tathya.in has a report on Dr. Digamabara Patra’s request for a national or central university in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi. A lot of the arguments made there make sense. Many of the recent central universities have been established in rural and semi-urban areas and indeed there is no reason why one should not be established in Bhawanipatna; especially since its citizens have been asking for one for more than 2 decades.
However, as mentioned in the article http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3229 adequate infrastructure seems to have been an important factor in determining the locations of the new IITs, IIMs and National universities.
For Orissa to have them in locations ouside of Bhubaneswar, there are two ways to go about it.
- Argue that adequate infrastructure should not be a requirement or they will automatically come once the institutions are established.
- Develop areas outside Bhubaneswar to have adequate infrastructure.
To me pursuing (2) has a higher chance of success than pursuing (1) and even if (1) is successful the institutes/universities in locations without appropriate infrastructure will struggle until the infrastructure eventually catches up which may take a long time if just left to fate. (Such a struggle may result in Orissa not being given in appropriate numbers additional central/national institutes.)
[In India people sometime point out that IIT Kharagpur was established in a rural location. First, Kharagpur is only 116 kms from Howrah. Second it has been a major railway junction for a long time. Third it was the first IIT and for a long time only one of 5 IITs. Similarly Roorkee was the oldest engineering college and is close to Haridwar and Dehradun. There are a few top universities and institutions in the US that are in rural areas, but these are exceptions, and the infrastructure in rural areas of US are quite good compared to rural areas of India. For example, Univ of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Penn State University in State College, PA are often mentioned in that context. But both do have small airports with commercial flights.]
Before we suggest what needs to be done regarding developing areas outside Bhubaneswar to have adequate infrastructure, let us address what may be coming in the future and why Orissa needs to do this urgently so as to not risk missing future allocations of national institutions.
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) in its December 2006 note on higher education has explicitly suggested 50 national universities in India. It says:
We recommend the creation of up to 50 National Universities that can provide education of the highest standard. As exemplars for the rest of the nation, these universities shall train students in a variety of disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, commerce and professional subjects, at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The number 50 is a long term objective. In the short run, it is important to begin with at least 10 such universities in the next 3 years. It is worth noting that the National Universities need not all be new universities. Some of the existing universities could also be converted into National Universities, on the basis of rigorous selection criteria, to act as exemplars. We recognise that there could be a human resource constraint if faculty members are not available in adequate numbers to establish these universities.
The current government has implemented most of the recommendations of the NKC and exceeded some of them. For example, instead of the recommendation of 10 national universities in the three years following the report (2007-2010), establishment of 14 have been announced. Moreover, the higher education budget has been increasing drastically from one five year plan to the next. The 12th five year plan starts in 2012 and it is expected that it will take up on the long range objectives of the knowledge commission. In other words there could and should be more central and national universities in the 12th plan.
[My impression is that how soon additional national universities are established will depend on the success of the first 14. It seems to me that the locations of the first 14 have been greatly influenced by the consideration of, where in each of the states selecetd, does it have the best chance to succeed.]
Unless Orissa is prepared for it, Orissa may lose out pieces of those plans on lack of infrastructure grounds. Other states with multiple locations with adequate infrastructure will get preference and Orissa may lose out.
However, 2012 is still 3 years away and if adequate steps are taken very soon, Orissa should be able to get its fair share.
The pity is there are areas in Orissa which are on the verge of having the necessary infrastructure, mostly through private investment, but because of non-constructive opposition, blind suspicion towards industrialization and the relcucatnce of many to speak out in favour of development and industrialization, the development and associated infrastructure building has been greatly hampered. The governments (state and center) are also at fault for their sluggishness on some aspects.
Following are some suggestions:
- The state government should push for the completion of the airport in Jharsuguda within a year.
- It should make an all-out effort to have commercial flights operating out of the existing airport in Rourkela. In general, the people of the area need to recognize the existing infrastructure and potential of Rourkela and take advantage of it. Currently, as a friend of mine would say, Rourkela is an orphan. This is a pity. It is a big asset to Orissa, especially to the western parts of Orissa; but is severely underutilized and undermined.
- Coming back to Jharsuguda, the people there should follow a smarter approach in not opposing and rather facilitating industries coming up there, and at the same time being vigilant about environmental and land acquisition related R & R issues. If these industries and investment are allowed to materialize there soon, then Sambalpur-Jharsuguda area would become a large metro with adequate infrastructure to have and support any and all kinds of institutes and universities. But will the people do that? Or will they continue to be controlled by or scared of the anti-industry activists.
- Similarly, both Bhawanipatna (Lanjigarh to be precise) and Rayagada areas have industrial investors who have been senselessly opposed. If the people would take a smarter approach that mixes development with being vigilant about environmental and land acquisition related R & R then both these areas would be able to get infrastructure where a central university (and possibly more) would flourish. But will the people do that? Or will they continue to be controlled by or scared of anti-industry activists. In Lanjigarh, Kalahandi, the local MP has recently taken a more sensible approach. I hope there is a quick resolution as this area desperately needs development and the resulting infrastructure.
- The state government should push for the rail infrastructure, particularly, the Khurda-Balangir line, the Talcher-Bimlagarh line and connectivity to Kalahandi, to be completed at the earliest.
The above is extremely important for the development of the western parts of Orissa where there is often a feeling of neglect. If the people there do not follow a smarter approach and only follow the strange approach that many (not all) seem to be following (such as opposing industrialization and thus infrastructure building but wanting things that need infrastructure) the places that follow a smarter approach (inside and outside Orissa) would be gainers. The same is happening in some other places in Orissa too – Paradeep and Kalinganagar come to mind, but these places are in closer proximity to Bhubaneswar and because of that they may be less harmed.
October 4th, 2009
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