Odisha HRD

Tathya on six deemed university proposals waiting for NOC from the state

December 6th, 2008

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.

Entry Filed under: Deemed universities