Rourkela needs a general university
While for reason of pride it is important that BPUT buildings get completed soon in Rourkela and BPUT becomes fully operational from Rourkela asap, what is most important for Rourkela in terms of higher education is a general university with programs in all disciplines: arts, commerce, sciences, engineering, pharmacy, etc. etc.
Rourkela is one of the few metropolitan areas of the country with a population greater than 500,000 that does not have a general university. There are a few other outliers such as Asansol and Dhanbad. (Dhanbad has ISMU; but its not a general university.) I would say if one checks the cities with more than 500 K population anywhere in the world, most would have a general university. In US, most cities with a population greater than 200K have a general university. In Odisha itself, much smaller cities and towns (Berhampur, Sambalpur, Balasore, Baripada and Koraput) have general universities.
As one can notice from recent news regarding Utkal University’s plan to have an engineering college (see also here), and before that about various new programs at Sambalpur university (see also here , here and here), once there is a general university, all kinds of disciplines, including engineering, can be added to it. One can go through the list of top universities and look at the various programs that are offered there. For Utkal see here and here. Moreover, these days while engineering seats are going empty (not in the government colleges though) there is a lot of demand for various general programs. See for example the number of applicants to various programs this year and last year at Utkal. The commerce program seems to have a very high demand and graduates of this program are doing well. Some numbers with respect to Sambalpur University are here.
Last year the higher education taskforce, among many other items, recommended a general university in Rourkela. However, I am not sure if any action is being taken based on that report. Regardless, I think the resurgent residents of Rourkela need to put the establishment of a general university in Rourkela among the top of their demands. I would put it at number one. The first thing that a city needs to become a real city is a general university. If people have to go out of town to pursue masters degree in regular disciplines like Economics or Commerce then the city is severely lacking.
7 comments November 28th, 2011
