Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.
… At least 6 professional educational institutions have applied for No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State Government for Deemed University (DU) tag.
Those are Vidya Bharati Trust, Bhubaneswar, Krupajal Educational Trust, Bhubaneswar, Nav Dignata Educational Trust, Bhubaneswar, C V Raman Educational Trust, Bhubaneswar, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar and Ajay Binay College of Architecture, Cuttack. (Editor’s addition: See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1197)
Once they receive the NOC then they will approach the University Grants Commission (UGC) for conferring DU status.
But it seems the Government of Orissa is in no mood to give NOC to these institutions.
Recently held meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary has opined negatively over the issue, said a senior official.
Orissa is having 9 State Universities, 3 Deemed Universities and 1 World Class University and a Central University have been sanctioned by MHRD.
World Class University of Vedanta at Puri, Sri Sri University at Naraj in Cuttack and ICFAI University at Bhubaneswar is also coming up.
In view of the surge of universities in the state, the Chief Secretary Committee has decided not to allow any other professional educational institution for Deemed University status, said sources.
Once they receive DU tag then those will not come under the purview of the Orissa Professional Educational Institution (Regulation & Fee) Act-2007.
… The Committee is of view that providing DU status to professional educational institutions in the state will defeat the purpose of setting up a technology university in Orissa, BPUT.
However all the private educational institutions are making efforts to influence political leadership to favor them with DU tag.
Vidya Bharati Trust(VBT), Bhubaneswar, which runs Gandhi Group of educational institutions has claimed to be the largest educational complex in KBK area of the state.
As the KBK area does not have any university, VBT has justified its demand for DU status.
My thoughts: The two private deemed universities in the state are KIIT and SOA. Both have medical colleges associated with them. The state government should suggest the 6 applicants above that they will get serious consideration for a NOC only after they have an associated medical college, especially in a backward district. This will be a win-win situation for every body.
Orissa needs more medical facilities in most of its districts and even after promising free land and Rs. 5 crore through WODC it is having difficulty establishing medical colleges in WODC districts. Thus if the above 6 applicants establish medical colleges in some of the backward districts in Orissa, then that will help Orissa a lot.
The government is right in being careful in granting NOCs. There are 50+ engineering colleges in the state and not every one of them or too many of them should become deemed universities. By requiring an associated medical college as a criteria for giving NOCs the government will be able to figure out which organization is financially strong and has a bigger goal.
December 6th, 2008
Thank you Sambada.
Following is a translation of the initial part of the article:
Today in the state assembly two private university bills will be discussed; Sri Sri University bill and Vedanta University bill. Orisssa’s higher education future rests on these two bills. In regards to the first university bill, so far, there has not been any controversy, but for whatever reason the proposed Vendanta University is embroiled in controversies. Opposition to land acquisition for the project, court entanglement, reports in police station, and similar issues have tied down the project. For two years there has not been much progress in the ground. The situation is such that like the Singur Nano project in West Bengal there is apprehension that this world class project may withdraw from Orissa. If that happens Orissa’s dream of being a top higher education location in the world will be shattered. In the past several assembly members have opposed the Vedanta University project. The reason for their opposition! Doubt. There is opposition to the land acquisition in the proposed project area. Few days back there was a struggle in that area. The reason for that was also doubts. May be Vedanta will withdraw from the university project after acquiring the land; May be the people will lose their livelihood; May be Vedanta will renege on its obligations; several such doubts are fueling the opposition. The opposers say that Vedanta plans to loot Orissa in the name of the university. But what is the basis of these doubts and it is not clear how does one loot by establishing a university. This project does not need mines or forests; the government does not need to spend a paisa. It only needs to help in providing land where 15000 crores is aimed to be invested to establish a world class university. Eminent educationalists says that such opportunities come once in 100 or 200 years. If such small issues are used to throw away this opportunity then Orissa’s higher education aim for the next century will definitely become unsure. In reality, states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are eying the Vedanta University project. The land acquisition problem in Orissa has resulted in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh sending proposals to Vedanta. But planning and design of the project has progressed so far that Vedanta does not want to leave Orissa. Vedanta Chief Anil Agarwal has given $1 Billion (Rs 5000 crores) of his own money to the project and has mentioned this to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The main built-up area of the university will be spread across 2000 acres. The Ayres St. Gross company of the US has designed the master plan of this university. This company has developed the building design for many top universities of the world. Vedanta has decided to establish a medical college and hospital in the first phase. This college and hospital to be built in 34 acres has been designed by the world famous firm Perkins and Will. The medical college program will be designed and its equipments will be supplied by Jensen partners. The curriculum of the various colleges of the university and the kind of faculty to hire for such programs have been discussed in conferences organized by Vedanta in Paris and Washington. After all these to doubt that Vedanta will cheat and go away is baseless. Eminent NRO professor CRB says that losing Vedanta will be like kicking a humongous wealth. With IIT, NISER and AIIMS being established Bhubaneswar, if Vedanta University is established it will make the Puri-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack area an heaven for high quality higher education and Orissa’s place in the world will rise significantly. No other industrialist in Orissa has spent that much money on education. If Vedanta wants to spend 15000 crores, why should we throw it away? The top educational institutions in India, the IITs and the IIMs rank 300-400 in the world. Vedanta aims to be in the top 50. He says, if that happnes Orissa will be among the tops in the country. The government should take meausers to resolve the issues related to land acquisition in a war footing. For such a university the sacrifice of the local people should be adequately respected and compensated by the government, he adds.
December 6th, 2008