Following is from an article in livemint.
In a departure from the current trend in business education, the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) is opening its own university and taking away some of its courses from what it describes as a restrictive All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) accreditation process. This will allow it to impart “innovative courses”.
To be named Xavier’s University, the institution will start its first campus in Orissa’s Puri district, followed by two more campuses in Sambalpur and Balangir districts.
“The AICTE has a lot of restrictions when it comes to expansion,” XIMB director P.T. Joseph said over the telephone from Bhubaneswar. “Now, we have got a go-ahead from the state government to start our own university.”
… Joseph said the institute will spend about Rs70 crore in the first phase of the university plan, of which Rs20 crore will come from the state. While the first campus in Pipli, Puri, will be spread across 35 acres, the Sambalpur and Balangir campuses will be built on 25 acres and 15 acres, respectively. The university will be set up as a private one under the state’s rules, which means it will have more autonomy. “There will be more investment as we progress,” Joseph said.
… To start with, XIMB will offer students the rural management course without AICTE accreditation. “XIMB will remain as an institute under the AICTE umbrella. If they create problems, then we have to think otherwise. But we are taking our (two-year) rural management course to the university from next year when the university starts operation,” Joseph said. The institute will also run a master’s programme on public health in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. It will also offer its three-continent master of global management programme under the university.
XIMB’s plan is a smart way of tackling issues related to AICTE, said Pramath Sinha, founding dean of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
… Allowing serious players to open universities is creating an ecosystem that’s free of excessive control, he said. Sinha is planning to open a university in Haryana under the state’s laws.
Joseph said Xavier’s University will offer both undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in areas such as environmental management, microfinance, healthcare management and disaster management. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik will lay the foundation of the campus on Saturday, according to an official invitation.
The state will pass a legislation to open the private university soon and till that time XIMB will call them additional campuses, instead of a university, the institute’s spokesperson said.
April 28th, 2012
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
After giving its nod to four privately promoted universities in the state, the Orissa government is set to table the Xavier University Bill in the ensuing monsoon session of the assembly.
Earlier, the state assembly had passed bills for setting up of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar University, Vedanta University, Icfai University and Centurion University of Technology & Management.
"We are making efforts to introduce the Xavier University Bill in the monsoon session of the assembly. All problems relating to the establishment of the university will be sorted out,” said state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik.
P T Joseph, director, Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar (XIMB) said, “We want the status of a unitary university. Our proposed second university is coming up on 35 acres of land at Jatani in Khurda district. Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco) is in the process of building a compound wall which will be completed soon. Then, we will start construction work on this campus in August.”
Joseph said, initially, XIMB will invest Rs 10-12 crore in the current financial year on the second campus.
While the university will function from XIMB’s existing campus in the city, the rural management course will be shifted to the new campus. Besides the flagship Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), the new campus will offer courses like healthcare management, education management, human resource management and a doctoral programme in management for working executives.
… XIMB also has plans to set up a campus at Bolangir for the rural management course and a B-school at Sambalpur but details are yet to be finalized.
If this happens this will be the first Xavier University in India.
July 25th, 2011
Its web page is http://sihmbalangir.org/.
May 15th, 2011
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):
- Central University of Orissa, Dist – Koraput
- Upgradation of UCE Burla to VSSUT, Dist – Sambalpur
- Private University status to Centurion, Dist – Gajapati
- Government Engieering College, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
- College of Agriculture, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
- WODC funds and free land for Private Medical College, Jaring, near Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi (significant part of the construction is complete)
- Pushed Vedanta to establish Vedanta Science College in Lanjigarh, Dist – Kalahandi
- Parla Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur, Dist-Ganjam
- Special SUIIT institute as part of Sambalpur University, Dist – Sambalpur
- WODC funds for Hi-Tech Medical College, Rourkela, Dist – Sundergarh (under construction)
- Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Baragarh
- 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:
- Pushed MCL to agree to make a medical college in Talcher
- Pushed NTPC to agree to make a medical college (location not announced)
- Pushed NTPC to agree to make a Power Institute (location not announced)
- Announced that all three medical colleges (includes Berhampur, Sambalpur) will be autonomous starting with the one in Sambalpur.
- Announced that Khallikote College Berhampur will be made to a university
- Proposed that one of the 20 IIIT should be in Berhampur.
- Pushing to upgrade FCI Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management
- Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Balangir
- Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Sambalpur
- Support for a CIPET campus in Balasore
- 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.
March 29th, 2011
Following is from an article in Times of India.
Twelve years down the line since its establishment, the foundation structure of Balangir Medical College looks like an abandoned cemetery overridden with bushes and weeds. It was erected, if officials are to be believed, at a cost of Rs 27 lakh. The medical college was proposed by the Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) and was mooted in 1999 by the then chairman of the council, Narasingh Mishra. With WODC investing the money to establish the college, it was supposed to be owned by the government.
But work on the structure came to a halt in the year 2000 when Naveen Pattnaik came to power. …
"If at all the Balangir medical college is set up, it should be a government-owned college and not a private college because the poor people in this region can’t afford the health services to be offered by a private party," said Mishra. He further said he recently had a discussion with the Union minister of health, Vilasrao Deshmukh, who promised to take necessary steps to see that medical college is set up in Balangir soon.
… Interestingly, the WODC last year had signed an MoU with Pondicherry-based Balaji Trust to take up the project, but the work didn’t progress. This is the third time the state government has signed an MoU for Balangir Medical College. Earlier, it had entered into an agreement with Hyderabad-based GSL Trust and Gaziabad-based Jassore Dental, Medical Education Health Foundation. After delay in the start of work, the MoU was cancelled and RVS Educational Trust was selected as the private sponsor. The trust expressed its inability to execute the project on February 17, 2010.
The earlier two agencies were reluctant to start the project citing non-cooperation by the WODC. Later, the new chairman, however, promised that the college would have 50 per cent management seats and 50 per cent government seats, with a certain percentage reserved for local students. However, he couldn’t explain why the progress was so slow and why it was being entrusted to a private party.
"At present, there is no one expressing interest in constructing the medical college. Its status remains in a state of embargo and no further decision in this regard has been taken," said Niranjan Panda, present WODC chairman.
March 25th, 2011
Following is from the tathya.in report at http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4965.
It seems that the long awaited proposal for the Xavier University will take a concrete shape, thanks to the initiative of B K Patnaik, Chief Secretary.
Mr.Patnaik is pursuing the proposed private university initiated by the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), said sources.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik cleared the proposal of the XIMB for an university after A U Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination brought to his notice about the long pending case
Once the Chief Minister cleared it, Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education asked the authorities in DOHE to frame the bill.
In the meantime XIMB authorities have identified the place near Pipili in Puri district to set up the University Campus.
However the Xavier varsity bill got delayed because of the proposed Umbrella Act for all universities.
With the Supreme Court of India rejecting the idea, the State Government in the Department of Law (DOL) has favoured the proposal for that each private University shall be established by a separate State Act and shall conform to the relevant provisions of the UGC Act, 1956.
So Chandra Sekhar Kumar, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, DOHE has sent the draft Xavier University bill to the Department of Law for vetting the same.
Debabrata Dash, Principal Secretary DOL has discussed the issue with his officers and they are busy in finalizing the provision of the bill, said sources.
Once cleared by the DOL, the proposed bill will be presented to the State Cabinet.
With the approval of the Cabinet, bill will be placed in the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) to be cleared.
Sources said that Xavier University bill will be placed in the OLA in the coming Budget Session.
I hope this really happens. A lot of expansion plan is dependent on this. In particular there have been reports about plan for a Rural Management school in Balangir, a campus in Sambalpur that will offer Business program as well as general courses (arts, commerce, etc.), a campus in Bhubaneswar that will offer general courses (arts, commerce, etc.), a new institute run together with XLRI that will offer courses on HR, etc. There was earlier plans to offer B.Ed courses. All these will become easy to implement once the university happens.
February 8th, 2011
Update: Odisha must push for a second campus of Indian School of Mines. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6076 for the reasoning that can be used for this.
The twelfth five year plan starts from 2012. It is only two years away. The eleventh plan fetched us a NISER (Bhubaneswar), IIT (Bhubaneswar), Central University of Orissa (Koraput), and plans for an innovation university (Bhubaneswar) and a centrally funded IIIT (Berhampur). Since all of these are in their earlier stages and there were 5+1 IISER/NISERs, 8 new IITs, 16 new/upgraded central universities, plan for 14 innovation universities and plan for 20 IIITs across the country I do not think there will be new ones of them in the 12th plan.
However, there are other kinds of centrally funded institutes and universities that were not much covered in the 11th plan, but yet there were instances of them in some parts of the country. I think if we focus on them from now it is possible that we can influence the inclusion of their establishment across the country in the 12th plan with some locations in Odisha. It is important to push these ideas as pan-Indian ideas rather than Odisha specific. Within Odisha by focusing on "backward districts" we can achieve a good distribution.
Following are some pan-Indian ideas that come to mind.
- Several Central Agricultural Universities in backward areas of the country, including one in Kalahandi: Currently there is a Central Agricultural University HQed in Imphal. (http://www.cau.org.in/). I came across the news item in http://bundelkhand.in/portal/NEWS/Centre-clears-an-AIIMS-like-institute-for-Jhansi-Bundelkhand that says "the Union agriculture ministry had given the go-ahead to develop a central agriculture university in Jhansi". I think a good case can be made that instead of just Jhansi (in the backward Bundelkhand district) such universities should be made in several backward district clusters in India. In Odisha at one time Kalahandi was known as the Rice Bowl of Odisha. Also, with the central government’s role in harming the industrialization of Kalahandi they may be sympathetic to establish a CAU there.
- Several Central Institutions of Technology in backward areas of the country, including one in Balangir: Currently, a Central Institute of Technology exist in Kokrajhar, Assam. Similar ones exist in Longowal Punjab (SLIET), and one being made in Malda (GKCIET). These are all centrally funded institutions, have rural focus and are aimed at 3-tiers: workers, technicians and engineers. See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3911 for some more details on these colleges. I think a good case can be made that such institutions be made across India in the various backward district clusters. In Odisha, Balangir may be suggested as the location as the third district cluster of the famed backward KBK region. With CUO in Koraput and and a CAU in Kalahandi, Balangir is the right place for a CIT.
- Upgradation of several engineering colleges to IIESTs, including the upgradation of VSSUT, Burla: Now that go ahead has been given to upgrade BESU (Bengal Engineering and Science University) to an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology), this idea should be expanded to another dozen or so colleges across India. In Odisha, VSSUT is the one most suitable for this upgrade. In this regard one may note that as per the evaluation in http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-25-1.1.zip and http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-58-1.1.zip only two government colleges (one in Pondicherry (75) and one in Hubli (77)) in India have a higher score than VSSUT’s score of 73. Even among the colleges listed in http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-71-1.2.zip only BITS-Mesra (76), Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore (82), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (80) and NIT Surathkal (77) have a higher score than VSSUT’s 73. [I am not sure if the colleges in the last list were scored on the same parameters as VSSUT.]
- Several National Sports Institutions/Universities, including one HQed in Rourkela: Currently there are two such institutes: Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education (LNUPE), Gwalior and Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala. Recently, a proposal was received by GOI from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports to convert Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development, an institution deemed to be university, at Sriperumbudur into Rajiv Gandhi Central University/National Institute of Youth and Sports. I think a good case can be made that such institutions be made across India in districts and locations that are catchment areas for various sports. In Odisha Rourkela would be the right choice with a possible branch campus around Kendrapada (women’s soccer) and Jagatpur (Rowing).
- Additional branches of IGNTU (Indira Gandhi National Tribal University) including one in Kandhamala: Indira Gandhi National Tribal University is HQed in Amarkantak, MP. Its act mentions that the university will have branch campuses in various locations across India. The government of Odisha has proposed Kandhamala as the location of one such branch campus. This should be pushed and perhaps another campus may be proposed for the tribal areas cluster of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.
In addition we need to continue to push for a medical college and an engineering college as part of the Central University of Orissa, Koraput. The state government and the CUO Koraput authorities are already doing it.
December 15th, 2010
October 20th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.
Principal of Food Craft Institute (FCI) Chandrakant Mahapatra said: “If things work out as planned, Balangir will soon have the second government-funded institute of hotel management in the state after Bhubaneswar. The union government is keen to upgrade the Food Craft Institute in Balangir into an institute of hotel management.”
Mahapatra said to facilitate the process, the Centre had demanded transfer of FCI land to the tourism department. It also demanded that FCI be re-registered as an hotel management institute under the Society Registration Act. “We are working on the two criteria. The land transfer process has been expedited. I am going to Cuttack today for registration related work,” he told The Telegraph.
He further said that the institute would be known as State Institute of Hotel Management (SIHM) and the Centre has assured to spend Rs 12 crore on infrastructure.
“The Centre will provide the infrastructure and the state government will have expenses for running the institute. The institute will offer BSc degree course in hospitality and hotel administration (HHA) and students will have to take an all-India entrance test to get admission,” Mahapatra said.
September 15th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.
Minister said to provide qualitative education on Management, XIMB has been roped in to set up its campus at Balangir to start a Post Graduate Program in General Management with specialization in Banking and Finance Service.
Intake will be 60 students in this discipline and equal number of students in Rural Management Program, for which XIMB will be given Rs.10 crore grant.
Similarly XIMB will open another branch at Sambalpur for General Management with specialization in Human Resource Development Program with intake capacity of 120 students, said the Minister.
July 18th, 2010
Update: Following are excerpts from a report in Telegraph.
“It (the additional centre) will either be in Sambalpur or Bolangir. We might even open centres in both cities. This will depend on where the state government provides land. Once that is over, we will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government,” said XIMB director Father P.T. Joseph.
… “We are just waiting for Naveen Patnaik’s approval. We can start work on the new centre as soon as we receive his approval,” he said.
… “The management college will come as succour to students aspiring for quality higher education in the neglected areas of western Orissa. Centres of XIMB will come up at both Bolangir and Sambalpur. We are in the process of finalising the land plots. The state government has already sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the project,” said Singh Deo.
Update: Following is from Samaja.
Following is from tathya.in.
… XIMB will open two Centers in Balangir and Sambalpur in Western Odisha to provide Higher Education in Management.
… Both for Balangir and Sambalpur Centers of XIMB, the State Government will provide Rs.20 crore grant from the kitty of Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), said sources.
The proposal was sent to the Chief Minister by Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination and Public Enterprises.
… Chief Minister Mr.Patnaik, who is eager for balanced growth of the entire state, favored the idea and has approved the proposal, said a senior mandarin in the Department of Planning & Coordination.
Chief Secretary Tarun Kanti Mishra has also favored the idea of supporting XIMB as the top notch B-School is opening its branches at Balangir and Sambalpur.
This is really a good development. There are several other developments which together provide several lessons.
- Silicon started in Bhubaneswar and last year it opened a branch in Sambalpur. Its branch in Sambalpur was funded by a Silicon Valley group which is now planning to pump 150-300 crores to develop Silicon University which will benefit both its Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur operations.
- GIET Gunupur is the first of the Gandhi institutions and the group now has many colleges including ones in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Rayagada.
- IIT Bhubaneswar will have an additional marine campus in a location away from Bhbaneswar.
- Hi-Tech sarted its first medical college in Bhubaneswar. It is now making a medical college in Rourkela.
There are two lessons one can draw from this.
- Private institutions of education are playing and will continue to play important role in the state and people wanting to develop their area should themselves get involved in establishing institutions. This is in addition to pursuing the government which every citizen has the right to pursue.
- Development in the state will spread from one area to other. The key is to let development happen without delay. The more it is delayed in one location, it will result in more delay in the rest of the places. For example, a successful Vedanta University in a location would lead to additional branches in other locations. The key is to let the first campus be operational at the earliest.
July 7th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.
Chief Secretary Mr.Mishra along with Balangir has also suggested setting up another Government Medical College at Balasore.
He said at present there are 3 Government Medical Colleges at Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla in Sambalpur.
There are 3 private Medical Colleges at Bhubaneswar and Hi-Tech Medical College has been allowed to set up a Medical College at Rourkela.
Central University of Odisha has been requested to set up a Medical College at Koraput.
Sahayog Foundation has shown keen interest to set up a Medical College at Keonjhar.
Ministry of Steel has been approached for a Medical College funded by SAIL at Rourkela by upgrading Ispat General Hospital (IGH).
Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL) is setting up a Medical College at Talcher.
So a Government Medical College at Balangir seems the only option available.
With another Medical College at Balasore, there will be harmonious spread of Medical Colleges all over Odisha, felt the top most administrator of the state.
The proposal is pending with the Chief Minister and he will take the final call on the issue, said sources.
What about Kalahandi? The WODC medical college there is stuck for some time. The Odisha government should consider taking over what has already been constructed and make it a government medical college too.
If a medical college in Kalahandi is also made and all the above mentioned medical colleges come through then the following 11 undivided districts (out of 13) will have at least one medical college: Cuttack, Ganjam, Sambalpur, Puri, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Balangir, Kalahandi, Sundergarh and Balasore. The only two that will be left out are: Baudha-Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj. They can be addressed in the next round.
June 21st, 2010
India has several DAV Colleges and Schools. A listing of them can be obtained from http://www.davcmcdircol.org/index2.aspx. Some of their top colleges in India are DAV College Chandigarh and Hansraj College Delhi. They currently have 4 colleges in Odisha.
| 44. |
DAV School of Business Management |
Unit 8, Bhubneshwar, Orissa – 769004 |
0672-560539(O) |
dsbmbbsr@gmail.com
http://dsbm8.org
|
Mr. D.N. Mishra |
| 45. |
DAV College |
Titlagarh, P.O. Bhatipara, Bolangir, Orissa – 767042 |
06655-220523(O), 220344(R), 9437153529(M) |
bsnpsar@gmail.com |
Shri Bhawani Shankar Negi |
| 46. |
Khetrabasi DAV College |
Khurda, Nirakarpur, Orissa – 752019 |
06756-222024(O), 9437010336(M) |
principal_bkdav@yahoo.com |
Shri S. Maharana |
| 47. |
DAV Centre for Management Development in Agriculture & Environment |
N-4/16, Civil Township, Rourkela, Sundergarh, Orissa – 769004 |
0661-266405(O), 2664724(PP), 9437022010(M) |
himansukm@hotmail.com |
Dr. H. K. Mohanty |
Based on the claims in their web page, the DAV School of Business Management seems to be doing very well.
Currently there are four DAV Public Schools in the Bhubaneswar area.
There are many DAV Schools in rest of Odisha. This includes
- DAV School Berhampur
- Four DAV Schools in Cuttack city (Raja Bagicha, CDA, Gandharpur, Alisa Bazaar)
- DAV School, Basanti Colony Rourkela
- DAV School Sovarampur Balasore
- DAV School Paradeep
- DAV Talcher Thermal
- DAV MCL
- DAV Jharsuguda
- DAV Burla
- DAV Badambagarh, Cuttack
- DAV Brajarajnagar
- DAV Sundergarh
See http://www.adhyapak.com/schools/orissa/orissa_schools2.html for a bigger list.
May 3rd, 2010
The recent news of an XIMB campus in Balangir adds a new dimension to Balangir’s knowledge infrastructure. As per the recent Business Standard report:
The XIMB campus at Bolangir will exclusively focus on the Rural Management Programme and will have an intake of 120 students.
“Our campus at Bolangir will be a fully residential facility with a built-up area of 1.55 lakh sq ft and it will only offer the Post Graduate Diploma course in Rural Management. We will phase out the Rural Management programme at our existing campus in Bhubaneswar after the establishment of the Bolangir campus”, Joseph added.
XIMB’s campus will come up about seven km from Bolangir town and the institute wants to offer a rural ambience to the students pursuing the Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management.
XIM should aim to have this institute at the level of IRMA, Anand and put Balangir in the map with respect to rural management institutes. It should rank among the top 3-5 in the country.
Several other knowledge initiatives with respect to Balangir are also in the pipeline. This includes:
- A university and
- a WODC sponsored medical college.
There is also possibility that the state government may make some more state engineering colleges and Balangir should and would be a prime candidate for that.
Besides the above plans, some of the existing higher education institutions in Balangir are:
- Rajendra College, Balangir
- Govt. College Balangir
- Govt. Women’s College Balangir
- BB Sanskrit College, Balangir
- Food Craft Institute, Balangir (The Odisha govt. has proposed to upgrade it to an Institute of Hotel Management.)
- Government Ayurveda College, Balangir
- Sushree Institute of Technical Education, College Of Nursing, Bolangir (Offers BSc. Nursing)
- Sushree Institute of Technical Education, School Of Nursing, Bolangir (Offers Diploma Course in General Nursing and Midwifery Training)
- Four ITIs: I.T.I., Bolangir; ITI (Women), Bolangir; KBK ITC, Bolangir; Sushree ITC, Sadaipali, Bolangir
- Sushree Institute of Technical Education (SITE),Bolangir (Offering Diploma in Engineering subjects)
Balangir has good connectivity to Bhubaneswar (two daily trains: an intercity day train and Raipur-Puri Express), Sambalpur (daily trains: Koraput-Rourkela, Ispat, Balangir-BBS, Koraput-HWH, Rayagada-SBP, Raipur-Puri, Dhanbad-Allepey), Titlagarh, Jharsuguda and Rourkela in Odisha, and has two daily trains to Howrah, one daily train to Chennai and Kerala, tri-weekly trains to Bangalore, bi-weekly train to Hyderabad, a weekly train to Mumbai, and tri-weekly (to become 5 times a week) trains to Delhi from Titlagarh which is 63 kms away.
The under construction Khurda-Balangir line receiveed 120 crores in this year’s budget and hopefully it will progress at good speed and get similar and larger budgets in the coming years. If that happens then this line could get completed in another 5 years. Once this line is completed the rail connectivity of Balangir will further improve.
Politically, it has an active MP in Kalikesh Singh Deo and MLA in A. U. SinghDeo who is an important minister in Odisha. Also, its interests are being watched over by Balangir natives abroad such as Dr. Sanjiv Karmee.
So things look positive for Balangir.
The most important things to watch for and/or pursue are: Making sure that the proposed university and the medical college that are in the pipeline are indeed established; Making sure that if there are new state engineering colleges then Balangir gets one; Encouraging and enticing other private entities to establish institutes and colleges in Balangir; and Making sure the Khurda-Balangir line gets completed in 5 years.
April 14th, 2010
Update: For some time XIMB has been planning to expand in the Bhubaneswar area. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1679. It is also interested in becoming a private university. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/2788. A recent Business Standard report says the following about the campus in the Bhubaneswar area:
XIMB which had kicked off its operations in the city in 1987, aimed to operationalize its second campus in the state by 2012, the year marking the silver jubilee …
… P T Joseph, director, XIMB said, “We will be coming up with two new campuses in the state- one at Bolangir and the other at Khurda. The Orissa government has already alloted us 35 acres of land at Khurda and has agreed to provide 25 acres of land on the outskirts of Bolangir town.”
The XIMB campus at Bolangir will exclusively focus on the Rural Management Programme and will have an intake of 120 students.
“Our campus at Bolangir will be a fully residential facility with a built-up area of 1.55 lakh sq ft and it will only offer the Post Graduate Diploma course in Rural Management. We will phase out the Rural Management programme at our existing campus in Bhubaneswar after the establishment of the Bolangir campus”, Joseph added.
XIMB’s campus will come up about seven km from Bolangir town and the institute wants to offer a rural ambience to the students pursuing the Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management.
XIMB’s campus at Khurda is coming close to the campus of Orissa Engineering College.
It also seems to be making progress in the university front as tathya.in has a headline saying "XIMB University in offing".
See http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=3962 for the news item on this in tathya.in. Following is from Samaja.
April 12th, 2010
Update on May 9th 2010: Following is from a report in Daily Pioneer.
The Food Craft Institute, Balangir, has been awarded as the best food craft institute all over India for its excellent all-round performance. Established jointly by the Union Ministry of Tourism and State Department of Tourism, this institute offers diploma courses in Food Production, Food and Beverages Service, Front Office Operation and House Keeping Operation. … The institute is going to be upgraded as a State Institute of Hotel Management. Recently, a Central inspection team visited the campus.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
… the state government has sought the conversion of the status of Food Craft Institute at Bolangir into an Indian Institute of Health Hotel Management (IIHM). The state government would provide additional land for it. Besides, the government has also urged the Centre to set up a IIHM at Rourkela, Mishra added.
Note that the Institute of Hotel Management in Bhubaneswar started as a Food Craft Institute in 1973. It became a centrally funded Institute of Hotel Management in 1984.
March 27th, 2010
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