Odia University planned along the lines of Telugu University (Hyderabad), Tamil University (Thanjavur) and Kannada University (Hampi)
July 11th, 2011
Update on July 21, 2011: Following is from Samaja.
Following is from a report in Times of India.
With an aim to develop Oriya language and to promote the literature, traditions, culture and folklore of the state, a group of Oriya language lovers have come forward to set up an Oriya University. The university has been planned on the lines of Tamil university Tanjavur, in Tamilnadu; Telugu University, Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh; and Kannada Universty, Hampi, in Karnataka.
"Even though Orissa is the only state to be formed on the basis of language, unfortunately Oriya language has not got its due. English still remains the primary language used for all government and judicial communiqu’. Despite its richness and antiquity, the growth and development of the language has been restricted over the years," said Gajanan Mishra, founder member of Odia Viswavidyalaya Trust, a lawyer from Titilagarh.
Though the initiative to set up an Oriya University was started a couple of years ago, first concrete steps in this regard were only taken in 2010 with the formation of the trust. "So far we have not faced any challenge or obstacle in the formation of the university. Rather the journey has been quite encouraging and supportive. We are hopeful the dream would be realised soon," Mishra said.
With over 250 active members, including students, academicians, litterateurs, lawyers and politicians, the trust has launched a massive awareness campaign across the state to solicit public support for the university.
"We are planning to table the draft of Odia University bill in the coming assembly session. The proposed university will be set up in a public-private partnership mode in association with the state government," said member of draft committee, Panchanan Kanungo.
In a preparatory meeting here on Sunday, executive members of the Odia Biswabidyalay Sthapana Committee decided to solicit more members from across the state. "The finance committee and draft committee of the university were selected in the meeting. Now we would expedite the work to establish the university at a faster pace," said secretary of the committee, Chitta Ranjan Behera.
A research scholar of Oriya language in Utkal University and founder member of the university trust, Subrat Prusty, said, "The medium of education in the university will be Odia. Emphasis will be given on the development and growth of the Odia language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, morphophonemics, syntax, semantics, semiotics, preparing pedagogical grammar, comparative vocabulary, lexicon, and language learning."
The university will also deal with history and economics of language use, creation of dialects, sociology dealing with various aspects of sociolinguistics and psychology, dealing with cognitive aspects of Odia. Sciences including acoustic phonetics and scientific discourses will also be taught in the university, founder members said. Separate departments for translation, folklore and culture, manuscriptology, and faculty of Odia development and tribal studies are proposed in the draft bill.
Entry Filed under: Odia University (proposed)
3 Writeup
1. Debi P. Sarangi | July 12th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
What is the necessity of this? We have a Utkal University of Culture which has courses in Odia language and linguistics. I am not opposed to any such move but we should not create instituitions abruptly so that the aim is missed out and it is nobody’s job. The univesity is still in nascent stage and noone is bothered to take care of this.
2. Subrat Prusty | July 23rd, 2011 at 11:05 pm
odia university is not a sister of utkal university of culture. Odias who have built various universities (Sanskrit, Culture, Agriculture, yoga etc) are least concerned about the need of building a university for our mother tongue Odia. Once Odia language was at its glory, made incredibly beautiful by the contribution of ancient poetic legend like Kharavel’s HATIGUMPHA INSCRIPTION (1st Century B.C.).
Time is not too far, when Odias being more interested in foreign Languages will be witness to their mother tongue getting extinct .It’s high time we united to save our mother tongue.
3. santosh | December 20th, 2011 at 3:36 am
Its a very good move, but its main goal can be efficiently achieved if the proposed university would have its training schools or its branch outside of Odisha also for eg. in north coastal andhra, jharkhand, chattisgarh, w.bengal, and also where odias had migrated for eg surat, mumbai, delhi,etc. Best of luck.