Odisha HRD

State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) and other training institutes in Odisha

The website of SIRD is http://www.sirdorissa.org/. See also http://orissa.gov.in/panchayat/SIRD/sird1.htm. Following is a list of training institutes in Odisha listed in a SIRD document. 

• Institute of Agricultural Management, Bhubaneswar
• Gram Sevak Talim Kendra (GSTK), Bolangir
• Gram Sevak Talim Kendra (GSTK), Ganjam
• Gram Sevak Talim Kendra, Dhenkanal
• Minor Irrigation and Water Use (MIWU), Bhubaneswar
• Plant Protection Training Institute (PPTI), Bhubaneswar
• Soil Conservation Training Institute (SCTI), Koraput
• School of Horticulture (SHC), Khurda
• Orissa State Co-operative Union (OSCU), Bhubaneswar.
• Co-operative Training Centre (CTC), Ganjam
• Krutartha Acharya Co-operative Training Institute(KACTI),Baragarh
• Revenue Inspectors Training Institute (RITI), Ganjam
• Co-operative Training Institute (CTI), Mayurbhanj.
• Co-operative Training Institute (CTI), Koraput
• Home Economics Training Centre (HETC), Bhubaneswar.
• Home Economics Training Centre (HETC), Barpali, Sambalpur
• Madhusudan Institute of Co-operative Management (MICM), Bhubaneswar
• Crew Training Institute (CRTI), Chandabali, Bhadrak
• School of Printing and Allied Trades (SPAT), Cuttack
• Driving Training School (DRTS), Bhubaneswar.
• Secondary Council Education Research Training (SCERT),Bhubaneswar
• Madhusudan Institute of Accounts & Finance (MIAF), Bhubaneswar
• Rangers Training College (RTC), Angul
• Nocholoson Forest School (NFS), Keonjhar
• Muny Forest Guards School, Dhenkanal
• Forest Training School (FTS), Phulbani
• Forester’s Training School (FTS), Jeypore
• Social Forestry Training School (SFTS), Bhubaneswar
• Fisheries Training Institute (FTI), Balugoan
• Live Stock Inspectors Training Institute (LSITI), Bhanjanagar
• L I Training Institute(LITI), Bolangir
• Live Stock Training Institute (LSTI), Keonjhar
• College of Nursing (CN), Berhempur, Ganjam
• Health & Family Welfare Training Centre(HFWTC), Cuttack
• Regional Institute of Planning,Applied Economics& Statistics(STI),BBSR
• SC & ST Training Institute, Bhubaneswar
• Secretariat Training Institute (SECTI), Bhubneswar
• Police Training College (PTC), Angul
• Orissa Shorthand and Type-writing Trg. Institute(OSTWTI), Bhubaneswar
• Fire Service Training School (FSTS), Bhubaneswar
• Municipal Training Institute (MTI), Bhubaneswar
• Public Health (PH), Bhubaneswar
• Sericulture (S), Keonjhar
• I I F T, Sundergarh
• Master Craftsmen Training Institute (MSTI), Bhubaneswar
• Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI), Cuttack
• Gopabandhu Academy of Administration, Bhubaneswar.
• Veterinary Officers Training Institute (VOTI), Bhubaneswar
• Extension Training Centre, Bhawanipatna.
• Extension Training Centre, Keonjhar
• Extension Training Centre, Bhubaneswar.

2 comments April 7th, 2011

Major higher education and research milestones in Odisha history (work in progress)

(Last Updated on 15th September 2023.)

This grew out of a draft article that I wrote few years ago. I will fill in more details and more items as time permits. Please suggest missing items and links in the comment section. Especially I would like to add information on all the government degree colleges. (A list is at https://sites.google.com/site/orissavision2020/ger-of-ebd-districts.
The list of all degree colleges, about 548 of them, is at
http://dheodisha.gov.in/Defaulter/ReportCollegeProfileSubmitted_DEG.aspx. )

7 comments April 1st, 2011

Higher education moves by the Odisha state government outside of the Capital area during the last 5 years [work in progress]

To get a clear picture on higher education moves by the state government (during the last 5 years) outside of the capital area (Khurda, Cuttack and Puri districts) we try to list the moves. Many fully centrally funded institutes are mentioned as the state contributes by free land and in making the location decision. (Note that Odisha has 30 districts.)

What has been done so far (including under construction):

1. Central University of Orissa, Dist – Koraput
2. Upgradation of UCE Burla to VSSUT, Dist – Sambalpur
3. Private University status to Centurion, Dist – Gajapati
4. Government Engieering College, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
5. College of Agriculture, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
6. WODC funds and free land for Private Medical College, Jaring, near Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi  (significant part of the construction is complete)
7. Pushed Vedanta to establish Vedanta Science College in Lanjigarh, Dist – Kalahandi
8. Parla Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur, Dist-Ganjam
9. Special SUIIT institute as part of Sambalpur University, Dist – Sambalpur
10. WODC funds for Hi-Tech Medical College, Rourkela, Dist – Sundergarh (under construction) 
11. Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Baragarh
12. College of Horticulture, Chipilima, Dist – Sambalpur

The districts involved above and the number of items for them are: Baragarh (1), Gajapati (1), Ganjam (1), Kalahandi (4), Koraput (1), Sambalpur (3), Sundergarh (1). If one takes the funding amount as the criteria then Koraput comes at the top.

Some of the announcements that are most likely to happen in 1-3 years as reported in the news:

1. Pushed MCL to agree to make a medical college in Talcher
2. Pushed NTPC to agree to make a medical college (location not announced)
3. Pushed NTPC to agree to make a Power Institute (location not announced)
4. Announced that all three medical colleges (includes Berhampur, Sambalpur) will be autonomous starting with the one in Sambalpur.
5. Announced that Khallikote College Berhampur will be made to a university
6. Proposed that one of the 20 IIIT should be in Berhampur.
7. Pushing to upgrade FCI Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management
8. Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Balangir
9. Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Sambalpur
10. Support for a CIPET campus in Balasore
11. Upgradation of GM College, Sambalpur to a university (announed by Higher Education Minister)

The districts involved in the above two lists and their number of items are: Angul (1), Balasore (1), Balangir (2), Baragarh (1), Gajapati (1), Ganjam (4), Kalahandi (4), Koraput (1), Sambalpur (6), Sundergarh (1).

The districts that are left out are: Bhadrak, Bouda, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kandhamala, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada and Sonepur.

Besides the above there have been reports about government willing to give grants to several private medical colleges in various places and the WODC has tried (but failed) to entice (through grants and free land) a private party to establish a medical college in Balangir.

Also, I think the government will implement some of the recommendations made by the higher education task force.

Please suggest missing items in the comments section. Any capital-bashing comments will be deleted as the purpose of this post is to get a clear picture of what is happenning and not happening in the higher education side outside of the capital districts of Khurda, Cuttack and Puri.

Again, this list is to get a clear picture of what has happened in the non-capital area districts so that one can make an informed decision if the government is biased towards some non-capital districts over other non-capital districts. (There is no argument that the bulk of the moves have been made favoring the capital area. So no discussion on that.)

In regards to my personal view on what the government ought to do, it is listed in details in the site http://orissa2020.org.

The above list should not be interpreted in isolation. For example, one should not conclude that Kalahandi got too much. It got several institutions because it started from very little and the education conscious people of Kalahandi have been rightly demanding for higher education institutions for a long time. But at the same token, arguing that Kalahandi has been neglected by this government with respect to higher education just goes against the facts above and I worry that the well-meaning people who are making such arguments may be harming their cause. I guess the argument comes from losing the central university to Koraput. But then every district other than Koraput (and the capital districts) can use that argument. [If there is interest I will explain more on my take on this in the comments section.]

As an analogy, in 2005 we could rightly argue that the central government neglected Odisha with respect to centrally funded higher education institutions. But if we now say that the UPA government  neglected Odisha with respect to centrally funded higher education institutions, we will be laughed at, and our efforts will have negative impact. So we plan to use finer arguments and location specific arguments to push for central institutions in Odisha for the 12th plan.

Kalahandi people wanting more institutions in Kalahandi should think of other ways to make their case and irritating the state government and its bureaucrats with arguments that go against the facts (see list above) may help some politicians but has a higher potential to harm Kalahandi’s case than help its case.

44 comments March 29th, 2011

Odisha government decides not to approve any new engineering colleges for 2011-12: Samaja

With large number of seats falling vacant in the last two years, this is a good decision. Although, they have decided not to approve any new engineering colleges this year, there may be a handful (5-6) that were approved by the Odisha government last year but did not get AICTE approval in time, which may be able to go forward this year. (I am not sure, if they will need a fresh No Objection certificate from the state.)

3 comments March 11th, 2011

Odisha Power Technology and management Institute (OPTMI)

We earlier wrote about this proposal in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4781. There is a new article about it in tathya.in. Nothing much new in this article except it gives the name of the institute. Nevertheless, the new article suggests that that authorities are thinking about its implementation. Following is from this tathya article.

With 40 000 Mega Watt (MW) power production being lined up, the Government of Odisha is mulling to set up a Power Technology Management Institute in the state. 

So the Government of Odisha has decided to set up the Odisha Power Technology and management Institute(OPTMI), which will be of international standard, said official sources. 

More than 30 Independent Power Producers (IPP)s are setting up their plants in the state, major share of such capacity addition is expected within Twelfth Plan Period(2012-17), foresee officials in Department of Energy(DOE).

In fact increase in power generation capacities also requires commensurate development of transmission capabilities as well as enhanced techno-commercial and  management skills as well as modern Grid management and Energy metering, said Pradip Kumar Jena, Secretary DOE.

Mr.Jena said that it would increasingly become necessary to adopt highly efficient technologies, commercial and management practices to handle such high volume of power generation, transmission and distribution. 

Needless to say that this would also require a vast pool of human resources having skillsets and competency of a nature not widely available today, said an expert in Power Sector. 

So the Power Administrators have felt the necessity to simultenously plan an accelerated growth of human resources having right competence . 

Moreover, in order to utilize newly emerging frontier technology and management concepts it would be necessary to develop an advanced facility to undertake research in such high technology and management sectors with continuous focus on Power Sector of Odisha.

Keeping this in view OPTMI is being planned to be set up on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, said an official. 

This institute will be set up with active participation of the upcoming power projects in the state and the Public Sector Undertakings (PSU)s of the Power Sector, said the official.

1 comment February 23rd, 2011

Odisha responds to central govt on the PPP based IIIT

See http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=5021 for the details. I hope it is established in Berhampur. That would bring the first centrally funded institute to Berhampur. Following is from Samaja.

We take this opportunity to review the existing IIIT type institutes that are centrally funded. They are:

• IIIT Allahabad: wikipedia page, homepage, 2010-11 budget was 30 crores plan + 5.72 crores non-plan.
• IIITM Gwalior: wikipedia page, home page, 2010-11 budget was 20 crores plan + 7.29 crores non-plan.
• IIITDM Jabalpur: wikipedia page, home page, 2010-11 budget was 30 crores plan.
• IIITDM Kancheepuram: wikipedia page, home page, 2010-11 budget was 10 crores plan.

The "M" in IIITM Gwalior stands for "management", but the "M" in IIITDM Jabalpur and Kancheepuram stands for "manufacturing". The "D" stands for "design". I hope the above mentioned IIIT in Odisha has programs in management, design and manufacturing.

Besides the above there are several IIITs that are part state government funded. Those are: IIIT Hyderabad, IIIT Bangalore, IIIT Bhubaneswar and IIIT Delhi. There are several other IIITs that are privately funded.

18 comments February 22nd, 2011

Odisha must push for an ISMU branch

Following up on our earlier article, Odisha must push for an ISMU branch. The logic behind Assam getting an RGIPT branch is that Assam has a lot of petroleum related oil wells and refineries. By the same logic, Odisha tops the states in India with respect to its mineral output. Following is from a report in Business Standard.

With minerals produced in the state in 2009-10 valued at Rs 15,317 crore, Orissa has 13.10 percent share of the total value of minerals produced by major states in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh (7.70 percent), Andhra Pradesh (7.21 percent), Maharashtra (4.92 percent), Gujarat (4.65 percent), Karnataka (3.96 percent), Tamil Nadu (3.21 percent), Rajasthan (2.99 percent), Assam (2.96 percent), West Bengal (2.78 percent).

According to the Economic Survey report (2010-11), the value of minerals extracted in Orissa has gone up by more than four times from Rs 3694 crore to Rs 15,317 crore between 2002-03 and 2009-10 coinciding with the boom in the mineral market during this period.

Orissa boasts of 95 percent of country’s chromite deposit, 92 percent of nickel ore, 55 percent of bauxite and 33 percent of iron ore. Besides, the state has substantial quantity of other minerals and ores like coal, manganese, dolomite, graphite and limestone.

With the iron ore prices spiraling, this commodity naturally leads the pack of minerals in terms of production and value. The state produced 79.7 million tonnes of iron ore in 2009-10 valued at Rs 7976 crore. This is followed by coal (105.5 million tonnes valued at Rs 5548 crore and chromite (3.4 million tonne valued at Rs 1167 crore).

Similarly, iron ore constituted 95.4 percent of the total exports of minerals from the state. About 15 million tonnes of iron ore was exported in 2009-10 valued at Rs 4224 core compared to exports of 0.46 million tonnes of chrome ore valued at Rs 464 crore and 0.25 million tonnes of mineral sand valued at Rs 72.32 crore.

One of the disturbing factors highlighted by the report is that with mining and quarrying sector gradually shifting to labour saving and capital-intensive technology, the total employment in the sector has been decreasing over the years. As a result, the number of direct employment in the mineral sector in Orissa has come down from 55764 in 2005-06 to 43705 in 2009-10.

It may be noted, with mineral deposits mostly occurring in the tribal belt of the state, this sector employs substantial number of tribals.

When ISM was made in Dhanbad, that region was perhaps the leader in mineral output (mainly coal) in the country. Odisha with a variety of minerals needs an ISM branch and we must push for it hard.

Related to that recently the Chief Minister has been concerned about the coal block allocation in Odisha. Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times on that.

Orissa government has taken strong exception to the coal ministry’s unilateral decision to allot coal blocks without consulting the state.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh urging him to review the allocation of coal blocks in Orissa. The coal ministry has allotted 32 coal blocks with an estimated reserve of about 15,000 million tons to 56 private and government agencies.

Mr Patnaik made it clear that a comprehensive regional master plan should have been prepared prior to allotment of huge number of coal mines in inhabited and environmentally sensitive areas in the state. Focus has to be given for infrastructure development, logistic planning, land requirements, rehabilitation and resettlement, environment impact studies and mitigation measures, the letter said.

Expressing serious concerns over the adverse environmental impact in post operationalisation of such a large number of coal blocks, Mr Patnaik pointed out that coal mining would cause deforestation and air pollution. Sources close to CM’s officer said, the letter also had pointed out that it might not be possible for the state to accommodate new coal mines by jeopardizing its environmental stability. The coal ministry needs to be advised to take a pragmatic and planned approach, keeping the interests and concerns of all stake holders including the state government in mind, the letter said.

For making the 32 coal blocks functional, 325 sq km shall have to be acquired within few years and another equivalent amount of land would be needed for allied activities like coal handling plants, siding, workshop, and residential colonies for project affected people, compensatory afforestation and other infrastructural facilities including roads.

This would lead to massive displacement and consequent socio-economic and environmental crisis, the chief minister is understood to have stated in his missive to the PM. However, such large-scale land acquisition and displacement could be avoided if coal blocks are allotted and developed in a planned and phased manner, Naveen added.

Incidentally, Orissa is already on the throes of severe climate change due to setting up of huge number of coal fired power plants threatening the livelihood of farmers and fishermen who form 70 % of the state’s population shall be severely hit due to irregular monsoons and erratic rainfall patterns.

Most of the power produced shall be transmitted to other states while the people of the state shall be the unwilling victims of the effects on climate change and pollution caused by the huge quantities of green house gases (GHGs) and fly ash generated.

“Coal mining is done either underground or open cast. In Orissa mostly open cast mining is done. When coal surfaces are exposed, pyrite (iron sulfide), comes in contact with water and air forming sulfuric acid. As water drains from the mine, the acid moves into the waterways, and as long as rain falls on the mine tailings the sulfuric acid production continues, whether the mine is still operating or not. Proper and holistic environmental protection measures are not taken by the owners of coal mines”, former director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research [CSIR] and currently, chairman, Institute of Advance Technology and Environmental Studies (IATES), P. K. Jena on Thursday told “The ET”.

This reinforces our thought that the civil society andthe government of Odisha must together push for  an ISMU campus in Odisha that will specialize in all the issues mentioned above.

Please add aditional pointers in the comment section. As soon as the Malkangiri sutiation gets resolved we will start a movement to get an ISMU campus to Odisha.

1 comment February 21st, 2011

PM inaugurates RGIPT second campus in Sibsagar Assam; Odisha must use the same logic and push for an ISMU campus in Odisha (PM also inugurated second campus of NID in Jorhat)

(Thanks to Kalahandia for the pointer.)

Apparently the second campus of RGIPT in Assam was announced by the PM in August 2008. Somehow we missed it. Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday laid the foundations of the National Institute of Design (NID) and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (Assam centre) in Jorhat and Sivasagar districts respectively.

Addressing a gathering in Sivasagar, Singh said, "It is befitting that the institute has been named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, our beloved leader and former Prime Minister of India. His contribution to modernization and development of our country was immense. He believed that the application of science and technology was critical to our development process."

He added that the institute, which will be a world class establishment in the petro-chemical sector, will be constructed at a cost of Rs 148 crore from central funds. "The place will offer degree, diploma and certificate courses to unemployed youths of the state. It will also provide special research on a particular subject," he said.

The Prime Minister added that the institute’s academic year will start from August this year. He said it was a centre of the main institute at Rae Barelly and its main objective was to promote capacity building in competency related to the domain of hydro carbon sector.

Using the same logic Odisha should push for a second campus of the Indian School of Mines University in one of the mining hubs of Odisha.

As far as NID is concerned the previous Commerce minister Kamal Nath had many times mentioned Odisha as a possibility; however because of our mistakes (see here,  here and here) we lost it. I hope we learn from our mistakes.

In general there are several institutions we should target for the 12th plan. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/5859 for an initial list. However, if one were to prioritize, a campus of ISMU will have the highest monetary value; as these days ISMU is almost as good as an IIT and has most of the disciplines that an IIT has. ISMU Dhanbad currently has a faculty size of 170. Its budget for 2009-2010 was 128 crores (= 85 plan + 43 non-plan) and for 2010-2011 was 122.47 (=89 plan + 33.47 non-plan) crores. In comparison, the 2010-11 budget for the 7 old IITs were a total of 1600  (= 774 plan+ 826 non-plan ) crores and the 2010-11 budget for the 20 old NITs were a total of 1317.51 (= 810 plan + 507.51 non-plan) crores. So ISM’s budget (122.47 crores) lies between the average NIT budget (65 crores appx) and average IIT budget (228.5 crores).

1 comment February 20th, 2011

Bits and pieces of news on the new IIITs; but no recent news on IIIT proposed for Berhampur Odisha

Update:

• Chhatisgarh prepares to have a IIIT. (May 29, 2011)
• Bihar responds quickly on IIIT in Bihar. (May 2, 2011).
• Karnataka is pushing its IIIT to be in Dharwad.
• Odisha responds to the central govt. regarding a IIIT in Odisha.

Following is from a report in sify.com.

Kolkata, Feb 17 (IANS) The central government has approved the plan to set up an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in West Bengal, the state’s Information Technology Minister Debesh Das said here Thursday.

Following is from a report in dnaindia.com.

The Himachal Pradesh government today said an Indian Institute of Information Technology will soon be set up in the state.

"We have been demanding an IIIT for last one year and are satisfied with the Centre’s response. The union government had asked whether the state could provide the land and funding for the project, and we gave an affirmative reply."

"I will meet HRD minister Kapil Sibal on February 17 in Delhi and put forth our claim for the allotment," state technical education minister Narendra Bragta said.

Following is from a report in prlog.com.

The Indian government has decided to set up an advanced institute to combat cybercrime. The proposed Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) will groom IT professionals. The proposed institute will also develop advanced technologies to tackle cybercrime. The institute will be set up at a cost of INR100 crore on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The cost will be jointly borne by the Central government,  concerned state government depending upon the location of the institute and the industry The Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT-A) will finalize the concept and details of the proposed institute.

So far there is no recent news on the proposed IIIT in Berhampur, Odisha.

1 comment February 18th, 2011

Are there any UNESCO associated schools in Odisha?

I came across an article by three students from a UNESCO associated school in Chennai. Following is an excerpt:

Lila approached the village council several times with little luck until one day, Mr. Mohan, a civil servant from Tamil Nadu state, was deputed to Lila’s district. Previously, Mr. Mohan had undertaken several successful poverty reduction projects, including the creation of women’s self-help groups, provisions for micro credit, and implementation of the free midday meal scheme for students in government primary schools. Mr. Mohan transferred these experiences to Charampa. Additionally, he enlisted various non-governmental organizations to train the villagers in watershed management to ensure a sufficient water supply during the dry season and, under his supervision, the fair-price shops improved the villagers’ access to grain storage and food distribution services. Today, Lila does not suffer from a lack of rain; the stored water is sufficient for dry spells. Her family does not go to bed hungry, and all of her children go to school.

From the article it seems students in UNESCO associated schools are getting a good well-rounded education that includes social concern.

I tried to find if there are such schools in Odisha. I could locate a 2004 list. There are no schools from Odisha in it. It does list RIE Bhubaneswar and Radhanath Training College, Cutack. I hope some of the schools in Odisha will try to get into this list. The web page of the UNESCO associated school project network, referred to as ASPNet, is http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/networks/global-networks/aspnet/.

1 comment February 16th, 2011

Prof. Bala Balachandran meets the Odisha CM regarding the proposed University of Corporate Excellence

Update: Following is an excerpt from a Business Standard article dated Dec 13 2010.

Bala V Balachandran, founder & dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai, is in talks with Tata Foundation and Pirojsha Godrej Foundation to sell nearly 51 per cent stake in his institute.

“I have 90 per cent stake in my institute. I have decided to give the ownership to somebody who can give me some money to expand. I may offload as much as 51 per cent. The valuation of the institute would be around Rs 220 crore,” Balachandran told Business Standard on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai.

… Great Lakes also plans to open campuses in Gurgaon and Bhubaneswar. While it has bought some land in Gurgaon, the Orissa government has leased it 100 acres of land for 99 years.

The Gurgaon campus will require around 50 crore to set up and the Orissa campus would be set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

Following is from a report in http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4966.

… Mr.Patnaik met Padmashree Prof. Balachandran , Professor of the Kellogg Institute of Management, USA here on 7 February.

After setting up the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, along with some like-minded people, he started his Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

Now Prof. Balachandran has expressed his interest to set up UoCE near the Capital City.

… Hara Prasad Das, State President of the Infinity Education Foundation (IEF), Prasanta Kumar Mishra and Priyadarshi Mishra were present in the meeting.

IEF has given the proposal and has requested the Collector Khurda to provide land measuring an area of 88 acres for the university, which needs at least 100 acres.

Prof. Balachandran said that the UoCE would endeavour to create a well- rounded corporate manager, who will have solid foundation in basic disciplines such as Economics, Mathematics, Social Science and Business Communications.

The University will have School of Technology, School of Business, School of Law and School of Advanced Studies.

Chief Minister asked Mr.Mishra, Minister Higher Education to study the proposal and he promised to extend all out support for the same, said an official.

UoCE will have top collaborative universities including Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, IIT, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and several others.

IEF has also planned for setting up of a Knowledge City to optimise high quality world class infrastructure and facilities for multiple universities located in a cluster within one campus.

They require 1000 acres of land for the purpose and investment will go up to Rs.10,000 crore, said Mr.Mishra, Minister Higher Education.

Some behind the scenes story and lesson: Dr. Prasanta Mishra mentioned above has played a significant role in partnering with Prof. Balachandran. Dr. Prasanta Mishra himself is one of the cofounders of KIIT and one of the founders of Temple City Institute of Technology and Engineering. The lesson for others, especially from other areas of Odisha who would like similar institutions/universities in their area, is to start with an institute near your preferred area, and use that experience to bring in well reputed and experienced people to your team and then make proposals to the Odisha government for bigger things. Alternatively one may invite reputed trusts with deep pockets to set up institutions/universities in one’s preferred area. If these reputed trusts with deep pockets go to Odisha government and say that they would like to open an institute in XYZ area, then, I am sure, the government would be happy to support them. Moreover, if the XYZ area lacks opportunities then the government may even chip in a few crores as they are doing with the proposed Xavier campus in Balangir and with various private medical college proposals in several backward districts and western Odisha districts.

February 8th, 2011

Vedanta University – Its importance to Odisha and India. Version 1.3 (Report by Odisha World-Class Universities Support Group)

The report is at http://bit.ly/vu-report .

Current Members of “Odisha World-Class Universities Support Group” that are listed in that report are: 

Academics

1. Dr. Abani Patra, Professor, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA
2. Dr. Amiya Kumar Rath, Professor and Director, College of Engineering (CEB), Bhubaneswar
3. Dr. Arun Pujari, Professor, University of Hyderabad (Currently Vice Chancellor, Sambalpur University, Odisha)
4. Dr. Chitta Baral, Professor, Arizona State University, USA
5. Dr. Chitta Ray, Professor, University of Hawaii, USA
6. Dr. Dhanada Mishra, Chairman, Human Development Foundation, Bhubaneswar
7. Dr. Durga Mishra, Professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
8. Dr. Gautam Das, Professor, University of Texas at Arlington, USA
9. Dr. Manmohan Mohanti, Retired Professor (Emeritus), Geology, Utkal University (Currently at Nimapara near Bhubaneswar)
10. Dr. Nihar Ranjan Das, Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi
11. Nitai Dhal, Trustee, Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar
12. Dr. Pranay Swain, UNICEF-OPEPA, ex-faculty IIM Calcutta (Currently at Bhubaneswar)
13. Dr. Prasant Mohapatra, Professor, University of California at Davis, USA
14. Dr. Rabi Mahapatra, Professor, Texas A & M University, USA
15. Dr. Rabi Nayak, Professor, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (retired), Currently at NISER Bhubaneswar
16. Dr. Ramakrushna Pradhan, Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi
17. Sahadeva Sahoo, Ex-Vice Chancellor OUAT, Ex-Chief Secretary Government of Odisha (Currently at Bhubaneswar)
18. Sanjeev Nayak, Trustee, Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar
19. Dr. Sumanta Swain, Senior Research Officer, International Institute of Health Management Research New Delhi
20. Dr. Siba P. Misra, Retired Professor and Director, Institute of Physics Bhubaneswar, Ex-President Orissa Bigyan Academy, Ex-President Orissa Information Technology Society (Resides in Bhubaneswar)
21. Dr. Sunil Sarangi, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Ex-Director, NIT Rourkela, Odisha
22. Dr. Supriti Mishra, Fullbright Scholar, Professor, HDF Business School, Bhubaneswar
23. Dr. Trailokya Nath Naik, Ex-Deputy Director, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, Currently at Bhubaneswar after a stint at NISER, Bhubaneswar.

 Others (some associated with academia)

1. Basant Barik, Credit Suisse, Singapore
2. Devasis Sarangi, Invest Bhubaneswar and the upcoming TIE Odisha Chapter, Bhubaneswar
3. Dhirendra Kar, Entrepreneur, North Carolina USA and Bhubaneswar
4. Nirakar Sahoo, NRO in Maryland, USA (VSSUT Graduate)
5. Pradosh Sahoo, Student at an IIT, Bhubaneswar
6. Priyadarshi Mishra, Chairperson, Skill Odisha Initiative, Bhubaneswar
7. Purna Mohanty, Technology Entrepreneur and SEED Investor, Silicon Valley, CA, USA, Member, TiE Silicon Valley, Member, Invest Bhubaneswar Silicon Valley
8. Sujeet Jena, Financial Controller, University of New South Wales Foundation, Australia
9. Surya Rath, Editor of Artfair, Bhubaneswar/Puri
10. Tejeswar Parida, President, Delhi Odisha Students Association (DOSA), Delhi
11. Umashankar Das, Entrepreneur Hyderabad/Bangalore  

(Note: A facebook site in support of Vedanta University has about 1200 “likes” and its companion facebook account has about 500 “friends”; about 300 of them are common. The site is http://www.facebook.com/vedantau and the account is http://www.facebook.com/vedantauniv.)

2 comments January 29th, 2011

India’s Supreme Court takes up the appeal by the Odisha government and Vedanta University against the high court judgment

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

 

The Supreme Court on Friday admitted petitions of Anil Agarwal Foundation and the Orissa government challenging the Orissa High Court , which ruled acquisition of over 6,000 hectares for an international university in Puri was illegal. …

The state government and Anil Agarwal Foundation, in separate special leave petitions told the apex court that the appellant foundation is a public limited company under the Companies Act.

The state government argued that the land acquired for the mega university was not illegal. The high court had held that land acquisition was not permissible under Section 40(1)( a) of the Land Acquisition Act. Earlier, two different benches of the apex court refused to hear the case as one judge, each, was linked to the adjudication of the issue earlier. The petitions were admitted by a bench comprising Justice DK Jain and Justice HL Dattu.

… Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had made a statement in the assembly denying that an ordinance was passed to build the university. "The reference to the ordinance is baffling. The fact is that no ordinance has ever been promulgated by the government for establishing the proposed Vedanta University. Under the UGC Regulations , 2003, a university can be set up by an Act of Parliament or state legislature by a Section 25 company or a trust or a registered society. The promoter of the proposed university, the foundation is a "not for profit" company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act" .

 

Following is an excerpt from a report in Indian Express. 

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Orissa government to maintain status quo on acquisition of 6,000 hectares of land for setting up an international university by UK-based Vedanta group in the holy city of Puri.

A Bench of Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu passed the order on appeals filed by the Orissa government and the Anil Agarwal Foundation against an Orissa High Court decision that land acquisition procedures for the proposed university project was illegal.

This has been widely reported in various media but most have not analysed the ruling properly. The best analysis is done in the Odia paper Sambada. Following are screen copies from its site.

January 29th, 2011

Update on Centurion University of Technology and Management Parlakhemundi, Odisha

Their website is http://www.cutm.ac.in/. The university name appears in the UGC website of private universities at http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/privateuniversity.html as well as in the Government of Odisha list of universities at http://www.orissa.gov.in/Portal/ViewDetails.asp?vchglinkid=GL014&vchplinkid=PL070. Their 2011 brochure is available at http://www.cutm.ac.in/downloads/public/CUTM-Brochure-2011.pdf. The university was inaugurated by the CM on January 22 2011.

3 comments January 23rd, 2011

After successfully persuading MCL and NTPC, Odisha now aims to push SAIL and NALCO for medical colleges in Odisha

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The Orissa government has urged the central public sector undertakings (PSUs) operating in the state to help it set up medical colleges in the state.

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik today reviewed the progress of various proposed medical colleges in the state.

At present, the state has six medical colleges. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Mahanadi Coal Field Limited (MCL) have agreed to set up two medical colleges.

MCL has agreed to set up a medical college at Talcher. NTPC too has agreed in principle to the proposal. It is yet to decide the location of the new college.

The state government has also approached Nalco and SAIL to help develop the state in this regard.

Investment to the tune of Rs 150 crore is needed for a medical college with a capacity to enrol 100 students per annum.

Pursuing SAIL and NALCO for medical colleges is a good step.

January 8th, 2011

Odisha goverment must take timely steps to get one of the new IIITs in 2011-12

Following is an excerpt from a report in Deccan Chronicle about efforts in Andhra Pradesh.

The Union HRD ministry has written to the state government, expressing its willingness to allot one IIIT to the state. It has asked for proposals to be submitted immediately.

In response to this, Mr Damodara Rajanarasimha, minister for higher and technical education, said: “We have convened a meeting with officials of higher and technical education departments to discuss the Centre’s proposal this week. Initially, we will identify the suitable cities and about 50 acres required for the purpose of setting up the institute. Based on this, we will submit a report to the UMHRD after shortlisting the location.”

4 comments January 4th, 2011