Odisha HRD

RTI response on ESIC Medical College in Orissa

On 22nd October 2009 Prashant babu had filed an RTI with the following questions:

1. What are the reasons for choosing Bhubaneshwar, Odisha as the location for ESIC Medical College and Hospital, when Rourkela and its nearby areas are having the largest number of ESIC Insured Persons (ESIC Employees)?
2. On what ground Bolangir, Odisha was not considered as a location for the ESIC Medical College and Hospital?
3. Whether Rourkela as a location for ESIC Medical College proposed by Govt. of Odisha? If so please specify the date of such porposal? Who had sent the proposal (Name of the person/officer)?
4. If Rourkela was proposed, then on what ground it was not considered by ESIC for setting up the Medical College and Hospital?

He has now received the response. They are as follows:

1. Govt. of Orissa has offered 25 acres of land at Bhubaneshwar for setting up medical college by ESI Corporation.
2. There was no such proposal for consideration.
3. Govt. of Orissa has not proposed Rourkela as a location for ESIC medical college.
4. Not applicable. 

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Different people are interpreting this different ways. My interpretation is as follows: 

• It is clear now that Orissa government plays a crucial role in deciding on the location of the ESIC medical college. The center may still say yes or no to a proposed location but it does not seem to have the power to propose a location on its own. This means the CM needs to be convinced. (That is why it was a big step to get the hint that the CM is now aware of the issue. However, it remains to be seen how accurate that information is.)
• Newspaper reports can not be trusted completely. From first hand experience I know that if there is a paper about X in the desk of a secretary some news papers have printed it as Orissa government has a proposal for X. There have been times where an email I sent to the government, which happen to lie in the desk of a secretary, has later appeared in the news papers as an Orissa government proposal whereas in reality my email printout probably went to some file (at best) or the dust bin. So my analysis is that somebody in Orissa government mentioned the name Balangir in the ESIC medical college context and it probably never made it out of the Orissa government; but regardless the newspapers printed about it. Its also possible that somebody on purpose gave wrong or misleading information to the media.

In any case, Prashant babu desreves thanks for using the RTI mechanism to get these answers. Now it is clear where the buck stops on this matter (the CM) and where the efforts should be concentrated on (the CM).  With the reluctance of the Rourkela MLA and the Labor Minister to bring this issue to the CM, some other way to access the CM and convince him about Rourkela needs to be found.

3 comments December 14th, 2009

National Institutes functioning under ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55608.

(a) The seven National Institutes functioning under the Ministry are:

i.  National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun, Uttrakhand.

ii. National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped (NIMH), Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

iii. Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped (AYJNIHH), Mumbai, Maharashtra.

iv. National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped (NIOH), Kolkata, West Bengal.

v. Swami Vivekanand National Institute for Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR), Cuttack, Orissa.

vi.  Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute for Physically Handicapped (PDUIPH),New Delhi.

vii. National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

 

December 10th, 2009

Existing health related institutes in Orissa

Following is from http://www.orissa.gov.in/health_portal/index.html.

Medical & Dental Colleges:

 

Government Colleges
Sl.No.	Name of the College	Location	Intake Capacity
			MBBS	BDS
1	S.C.B. Medical College	Cuttack	150	20
2.	M.K.C.G. Medical College	Berhampur	150	–
3.	V.S.S. Medical College	Sambalpur	150	–

 

Private Colleges
Sl.No.	Name of the College	Location	Intake Capacity
			MBBS	BDS
1	Hitech Medical College	Pandra, Bhubaneswar	100	100
2	Institute of Medical Science & SUM Hospital	Kalinganagar, Ghatikia, Bhubaneswar	100	100
3	Kalinga Institue of Medical Science	Patia, Bhubaneswar	100	100
4	Gandhi Dental College	Bada Raghunathpur, BBSR	–	50

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Ayurvedic Colleges:

Government Institutions

Sl	Name of the Institute	Location	Courses Offered	Duration of The Course	Intake Capacity
1	Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya	Puri	B.A.M.S.	5.5 years	30
2	Kaviraj Ananta Tripathy Sharma Ayurveda College, Akuspur	Akuspur, Berhampur Ganjam	-do-	-do-	-do-
3	Government Ayurveda College	Bolangir	-do-	-do-	-do-

Private Institutions:

Sl	Name of the Institute	Location	Courses Offered	Duration of The Course	Intake Capacity
1	Mayurbhanj Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya	Baripada , Mayurbhanj	B.A.M.S.	5.5 years	30
2	Sri Sri Nrusingha Nath Ayurveda College & Research Institute	Paikmal , Baragarh	-do-	-do-	-do-
3	Indira Gandhi Memorial Ayurveda College & Hospital	Bhubaneswar	-do-	-do-	-do-

 

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Homeopathic Colleges:

Government Institutions

Sl	Name of the Institute	Location	Courses Offered	Duration of The Course	Intake Capacity
1	Dr.Avirna Chandra Homeopathy Medical College & Hospital	Bhubaneswar	B.H.M.S.	5.5 Years	25
2	Orissa Medical College of Homeopathy & Research	Sambalpur	-do-	-do-	-do-
3	Utkalmani Homeopathy Medical College & Hospital	Rourkela	-do-	-do-	-do-
4	Biju Pattnaik Homeopathy Medical College & Hospital	Berhampur	-do-	-do-	-do-

Private Institutions:

Sl	Name of the Institute	Location	Courses Offered	Duration of The Course	Intake Capacity
1	Mayurbhanj Homeopathy Medical College & Hospital	Baripada	B.H.M.S.	5.5 Years	30
2	Cuttack Medical College of Homeopathy	Cuttack	-do-	-do-	-do-

 

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Nursing Colleges:

BSc. Nursing Course in Government & Private College of Nursing
Sl. No.	Name of the College	Total Seats
1	College of Nursing, Berhampur	20
2	College of Nursing, Cuttack	20
3	SUM Nursing College, Bhubaneswar	20
4	Lord Jagannath Mission’s College of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	30
5	Neelachal Institute of Medical Science, Bhubaneswar	15
6	Manjari Devi College of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	20
7	Sushree Institute of Technical Education, CON, Bolangir	20
8	VISWAS College of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	25
9	Hi-Tech School of Nursing, Pandra, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar	30
10	Gajapati College of Nursing, Parala Khemundi, Gajapati	20
11	Jagannath Institute of Medical Scinece & Research, College of Nursing, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar	25
12	Sri Vidya Niketan College of Medical Science & Research, Nayapalli, Bhubaeswar	20
	TOTAL	265

 

Diploma Course in General Nursing and Midwifery Training
Sl. No.	Name of the College	Total Seats
1	School of Nursing, SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack	100
2	School of Nursing, VSS Medical College Hospital, Burla	50
3	School of Nursing, MKCG Medical College Hospital, Berhampur	50
4	Nursing Training Institute (N.T.I.), I.G.H., SAIL, Rourkela	40
5	School of Nursing, N.S.C. Hospital, M.C.L., Talcher	10 + 10
6	SUM Nursing School, Bhubaneswar	20
7	Lord Jagannath Mission’s School of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	25
8	Kalinga Nursing School, Kalinga Hospital, Bhubaneswar	20
9	School of Nursing KIIT, Bhubaneswar	15
10	Sushree Institute of Technical Education, SON, Bolangir	20
11	Sushila Devi School of Nursing, Nuapada	20
12	Manjari Devi School of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	20
13	Hi-Tech School of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	20
14	Neelachal School of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	10
15	Mahavir School of Nursing, Cuttack	20
16	VISWASS School of Nursing, Bhubaneswar	20
17	New Hope Society School of Nursing, Berhampur	20
	TOTAL	480

 

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Pharmacy Colleges:

Government Colleges
Sl. No.	Name of the College	Total Seats
1	Pharmacy Wing, SCB Medical College, Cuttack	60
Private College
Sl. No.	Name of the College	Total Seats
1	College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ballguall, Puri	60
2	College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mohuda, Berhampur	60
3	Gayatri College of Pharmacy, Jamadarapali, Sambalpur	60
4	Herbal Cross Institute of Pharmacy, Mahanadi Barrage Road, Nimpur, Jagatpur, Cuttack	40
5	Indira Gandhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bhubaneswar	60
6	Institute of Medical Technology, Gopalpur, Puri	60
7	Institute of Pharmacy & Technology, Salipur, Cuttack	60
8	Jeypore College of Pharmacy, Jeypore, Koraput	60
9	Kanaka Manjari Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rourkela, Sundargarh	60
10	Maa Mangala College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Karanjia, Mayurbhanj	60
11	Mayurbhanj Medical Academy, Baripada, Mayurbhanj	60
12	Maruti Pharmacy College, Kalimandir Chowk, Bargarh	40
13	Orissa College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mahuli Pada, Dhenkanal	60
14	Om Sai College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Gopalpur on Sea, Ganjam	60
15	Pranabandhu Institute of Paramedical Sciences & Technology, Angul	60
16	Patitapabana Institute of Pharmaceutical Scineces % Tech. Gangapada, Bhubaneswar	60
17	Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Berhampur	60
18	Royal College of Pharmacy and Helath Sciences, Berhampur	60
19	Seemanta Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jharpokharia, Mayurbhanj	60
20	Sidheswar College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Amarda Road, Balasore	60
21	Sri Jayadev College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Naharkanta, Khurda	60
22	Sivananda College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Near Engineering College Square, Panda Colony, Berhampur	60
23	The College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tamando, Khurda	60
24	The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Tech., Padmapur, Bahugram, Cuttack	60
25	The Pharmaceutical College, Barpali, Bargarh	60
26	Gayatri Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gunpur, Rayagada	40
27	Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Balasore	60
28	Dadhichi College of Pharmacy, Vidya Vihar, Sundergram, Cuttack	60
29	Hi-Tech College of Pharmacy, Pandara, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar	40
30	Gajapati College of Pharmacy, Ranipendha, Paralakhemundi, Gajapati	40
31	Kalinga Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nuasahi, Balia, Balasore	40
32	Balakrushna College of Pharmacy, Nuapada	40
	TOTAL	1840

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6 comments December 10th, 2009

First hint that the CM is aware of the ESIC medical college in Rourkela issue

Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.

Chief Minister has now demanded the Government of India to favour with a Dental and Nursing College for the Steel City, said official sources.

State Government in the Department of Labour & Employment (DOLE) has asked the Ministry of Labour to set up the facilities in Rourkela keeping in view the long standing demand of the people.

After Rourkela has been sidetracked for a Medical College & Hospital, the State Government has initiated the move to set up Dental College and College of Nursing in the city.

…Nearest Hospital for them is Sambalpur and IPs require frequent references for their dental problems.

Further there is extreme shortage of nursing staff in the health institutions of the state including ESI Medical Institutions.

So both Dental and Nursing College is needed, said Satya Prakash Nanda, Development Commissioner.

Mr.Nanda has taken up the issue with P C Chaturvedi, the Union Secretary Labour & Employment.

It has been agreed that ESIC would consider opening up of a Dental College and College of Nursing at Rourkela.

Investment in both the institutions will be around Rs.100 crores, said Sardar Jagar Singh, Secretary Labour & Employment.

Mr.Singh said that he has brought it to the notice of C D Kedar, the Director General ESIC.

Although a dental and nursing college (if it happens) is better than nothing, but it still does not seem to address the issue fairly. If there are more ESI insured people around Rourkela, the medical college should be established there. If there is some real logical reason why the medical college is being made in Bhubaneswar then the officials involved should spell that out.

26 comments December 9th, 2009

VSSUT Burla advertises for faculty positions

The ad is at http://www.uceburla.ac.in/downloads/docs/adv_qua.pdf. Following are images of the ad.

December 8th, 2009

AIIMS Bhubaneswar tender watch: date extended till 23rd December 2009

The new links are:

Setting up of 6 AIIMS at Bhopal/Bhubaneshwar/Jodhpur/Patna/Raipur/Rishikesh / Important Information  / Amendment -1

 

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Clicking on the first one takes us to the page http://mohfw.nic.in/Index6aiims.htm which has the following.

Name of Work

 Setting up of Six AIIMS at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh

Section – 1   Notice Inviting Tender for Six AIIMS Projects under PMSSY Scheme (as published in News Papers on 2^nd Nov 2009).

                        Section – 2 Volume – 1 (Notice Inviting Tender & Instructions to Tenderers )

                                Section – 3  Contact Officials for each AIIMS Site

 

AIIMS-Bhubaneswar	Sh. Chitranjan Nanda, SE	09433892952	AIIMS-Bhubaneshwar, Near Biju Patnaik Police Academy, Village-Sijua, Bhubaneshwar-751019, Orissa
	Sh. Satwant Singh Sallan, PE(HLL)	09776245188

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The second links takes to the pdf document that states that the submission date is extended till 23rd December 2009.

 

1 comment December 8th, 2009

NISER Bhubaneswar call for tenders: Deadline 5th Jan 2010

The page http://www.dcsem.gov.in/Page/Tender.htm has the following.

Sl.No.	Name of Work	Estimated Cost (Rs. In Lakhs)	NIT No.	Sale Period	For Details
1	Construction  of Academic Township , Sports Complex and Residential Township  alongwith necessary Infra structure Facilities For National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) at Jatni, Khurda ORISSA.	450 Crore	DCSEM / CE (PCD) /NISER/A &  R / PQ/07  / 2009  dt 30.11.2009.	07-12-2009 To  24.12.2009	Click Here

Following is from the page reached by clicking the above link.

Government of India

                                                    Department of Atomic Energy

                             Directorate of Construction, Services & Estate Management

 

INVITATION FOR PREQUALIFICATION OF CONTRACTING AGENCIES

 

PQ No : DCSEM / CE (PCD) /NISER/A &  R / PQ/07  / 2009  dt 30.11.2009       

 

       Director, Directorate of Construction Services & Estate Management (DCSEM), DAE, on behalf of the President of India, invites Pre-qualification applications from reputed, qualified, experienced and financially sound Engineering construction agencies for “Construction  of Academic Township , Sports Complex and Residential Township  alongwith necessary Infra structure Facilities For National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) at Jatni, Khurda ORISSA The proposed scope of work shall include Civil Construction works, Internal & External P.H., Fire Fighting, Internal Roads, Storm Water Drains, Rain Water Harvesting , Internal & External  Electrical Works ,HVAC, and Development works etc.  The works are listed below.

 

S.N	Description of Works	Approximate Area
1	ACADEMIC TOWNSHIP Consisting of School of Sciences including Class Rooms, Administration, Library, Workshop, Auditorium Complex including Cafeteria, Lecture Hall Complex, Student Activity Centre, Other Facilities like Animal House, Green House and Bio Safety P3 Laboratory  and Meditation Centre etc	64,923/- Sq.m
2	SPORTS COMPLEX  & AQUATIC FACILITIES	2,000/- Sq.m
3	RESIDENTIAL  TOWNSHIP Consisting of Hostel complex of Double Occupancy Rooms for 800 Students and Single Occupancy Rooms for 1000 Students, Efficiency Apartments Type I & II , Residential Accommodation for Faculty/Staff of Type A to E, E1 & E3, Other Facilities such as Day care Centre, Primary & Higher Secondary School, Hospital 20 Bed, Shopping and Community Centre and Guest House etc	1,06,913/- Sq.m

 

 The estimated cost for the work is projected to be  Rs. 450 crore (approx). Time of completion is 36 months.

 

The interested agencies are required to furnish the following documents  for consideration of issue of  “Pre -Qualification  Document” . Joint ventures are not accepted

 

a) Proof of registration with Government / Semi Government organisations like Railways, PWD, CPWD, MES etc. in appropriate class or having experience in carrying out similar type of works.

 

b) Annual turnover as per ITCC or Profit & Loss statement for the last   3 years

c) ‘PAN’ reference,

d) TIN  reference,

e)  Latest Bank Solvency Certificate 

f)  WCT registration certificate,

g)   Performance Certificates;

h)  List of similar works in hand and Works carried out by them for the last seven years indicating the Agency for whom executed, Value of work, Completion time : Stipulated & Actual or present position of the work. 

 i)  List of Technical staff they possess.

 j)  List of construction plants, machinery & infrastructure facilities they possess.

Agencies fulfilling following criteria shall be eligible to participate:

(a) Experience of having successfully completed any of the following works during

     last seven years ending 30-11-2009 : 

     (i) 3 similar works completed costing not less than Rs.180 crore each; or   

         2 similar works completed costing not less than Rs.270 crore each; or

        1 similar work completed costing not less than   Rs.360 crore

and

    (ii) One completed  work of any nature ( either part of (i) above or a separate one) costing not less than Rs. 180 crore with some Central/State Government/ Central Autonomous Body/ Central Public Sector Undertaking

 

(b)  Bank Solvency Certificate of Minimum Value Rs.180 crore.

 

(c)  Average Annual turnover during last 3 years ending 31.03.2009 should be

      at least Rs.135 crore

 

 Similar works means Development and  Construction of Residential/Commercial / Institute / Office Buildings with RCC framed structure, including PH , Electrical, HVAC and development works

 

The value of works shall be brought to current costing level by enhancing the actual value of work at simple rate of 7% per annum :  calculated from the date of completion to last date of receipt of applications for Pre-Qualification documents.

 

[d) Not having incurred any loss in more than 2 years during last 5 years ending

31-3-2009.

Pre qualification documents shall be issued from 07-12-2009 to 24.12.2009 between 11 00 hrs. & 16 00 hrs on all working days from the Office of Chief Engineer(PCD),DCSEM, DAE, 3^rd Floor, V.S.Bhavan, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai – 94.Cost of the document (non refundable) shall be Rs.1500/- in cash if collected in person and Rs.2000/- if required by Post, by crossed Demand Draft drawn in favour of Accounts Officer, DCSEM, payable at Mumbai. Pre qualification documents if required by post shall be sent by Indian Speed Post only, at the agency’s risk.  The documents shall be received in person only, up to 15 00 hrs on 05-01-2010 in the Office of the Chief Engineer (PCD) and shall be opened at 15 30 hrs on the same day. If any information furnished by the applicant is found incorrect at a later stage, they shall be liable to be debarred from tendering/taking up of work in DCSEM. The Department reserves the right to verify the particulars furnished by the applicant independently and reject any application without assigning any reason and to restrict the list of pre-qualified contractors to any number deemed suitable in case too many applications are received satisfying the basic Pre-Qualification criteria . Short listing of the agencies shall be subject to thorough verification of their credentials and inspection of works carried out by them, through a Technical Evaluation Committee of experts, constituted by DCSEM.

 

For further details please contact 022-25487320 & 25487324. Fax 022-25565362

 

Please click here to Download Pre Qualification Document

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Our previous entry on NISER tender was at https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1816. Earlier the budget for the construction was 290 crores. In this tender the amount seems to have been raised to 450 crores.

1 comment December 8th, 2009

Past catches up with ICFAI in Orissa

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.

After years of donkey work to set up a multi-disciplinary university in Odisha at an investment of Rs 150-200 crore, it has failed to take off. For last 4 years the technocrat is trying hard to set up the facility. Every thing was falling in line and the Government was moving with full speed to clear the ICFAI University Bill-2009 in the Odisha House. 

However Opposition Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan played spoil sport. 

While initiating discussion on the bill, lawmaker from Satyabadi charged the university is mired in controversy following a ruling by the Madras High Court for closure of the institute’s off-campus and study centres in Tamil Nadu. He also cited the ruling of the Andhra Pradesh High Court restraining ICFAI to award degree certificates.

Although the ICFAI was registered under Societies Act in 1984 in Andhra Pradesh for offering distance learning, it is yet to set up a university in the state. The society has two universities – one in Agartala and the other is at Dehra Dun. However, many off-campus and study centres of the two universities are operating in many states without approval of the University Grants Commission and respective governments. 

ICFAI is also running an off-campus centre in Bhubaneswar also, which came to light. 

Now the State Government has asked to close down the centre as it is running without the approval of the UGC. 

The ICFAI authorities have been asked to file affidavit on this count, said an official. 

With allegations coming to fore, even Chief Minister is also worried over the reputation of his government, said sources. When these allegations came out in the floor of the Assembly, Naveen Patnaik Government was on back foot. This is because the State Government signed the MOU with ICFAI on 20 March, 2007 without verifying the credentials. Samir Dey, the then Minister Higher Education was batting for the ICFAI University and took the lead in signing the MOU, said an officer. 

However now things are different and Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education has made it clear that unless ICFAI authorities clear the allegations against them, it is unlikely that bill will be taken up once again in the House. 

So quietly the bill has been deferred for the next Assembly session, said an official. 

While the bill is yet to be cleared, ICFAI has already identified 53 acres of land for the university. The land has been identified close to Sum Hospital on the outskirts of the city.  Out of the total land area of 53 acres, ICFAI has got 11 acres of land registered for the university project. Now with the bill being dumped, fate of the proposed private university hangs in balance.

The article at http://www.careers360.com/news/3437-ICFAI-avoid-till-they-come-clean seems to give a clear picture of the mess ICFAI has gotten itself into.

My suggestion to ICFAI would be to start the various colleges in Orissa with appropriate permission. I.e., if it wanted to start an engineering college and management school then it should do that with AICTE approval and under BPUT. Similarly for medical, nursing, journalism, etc.; whatever it had plans for. Only after it has them up and running and with quality faculty, top-notch facilities and some nationally ranked colleges it should come back to the state for a university bill. Not before that!!

4 comments December 6th, 2009

Balasore gets assurance from the CM that he will pursue with the defence department for a government medical college

Following is from Dharitri.

Following is from Samaja.

1 comment December 6th, 2009

Subregional Science Centers proposed for Jeypore and Nrusinghanath: Samaja

2 comments December 6th, 2009

Congress leaders demand that the proposed (during the 11th plan) central/national/innovation university in Bhubaneswar (Update: Or is it the one in Koraput) be named after Utkalmani

Update: Samaja has a report on this where it first says that the Central Univ in Koraput was demanded to be named after Utkalmani and then it says that the central univ in Bhubaneswar was demanded to be named after Utkalmani. See the article at the bottom. I guess different people in the assembly demanded different things.

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Following is from a report in Orissadiary.com.

During the 11th Yojna there is a proposal to open a Central University in Bhubaneswar. The Chief Whiff of Opposition Prasad Harichandan Demanded in the House on Friday  to request the Centre for name the University as Utkalmani Central University. Legislature Santosh Singh Saluja also seconded the proposal.

Just to avoid confusion, the 11th plan details are already in place and the central university mentioned above in all probability refers to one of the two central universities (for Orissa) out of the 30 that are being established in India during the 11th plan. Following is a walk through on how the name evolved from "world class central university" to "national university" to "innovation university." However, many still refer to it as central university which has caused some confusion.

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On March 28th 2008 http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36955 it was announced that: 

State-wise List of Cities Identified for locating 14 Central Universities during the  XIth Plan  which would aim to achieve  world class  standards

…

12.        Orissa                           –           Bhubaneshwar

Later on April 21, 2008 it was mentioned in the Rajya Sabha (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684) 

It has also been decided to locate 14 world class Universities, one each in the 14 States / Regions as detailed in the Annexure.

Later on Dec 16 2008, it was mentioned in the Lok Sabha (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45702 ) 

The Government proposes to establish 14 National Universities aiming towards world-class standards the 11^th Plan period.  A State- wise list of cities identified or locating these universities is annexed.  A preliminary draft of the Concept Paper on setting up of these universities was prepared by an Expert Committee constituted by the University Grants Commission.  The Expert Committee has held extensive consultations with eminent educationists, academics and policy makers.  The relevant recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission have also been taken into consideration by the Expert Committee while revising the draft Concept Paper. The Concept Paper is, however, yet to be finalized by the Committee.

…

9

Orissa

Bhubaneswar

This information was given by Shri Arjun Singh, the Minister of Human Resource Development in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The February 12th 2009 MHRD press release of MHRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh’s speech written for Bhubaneswar IIT foundation laying (which he did not attend) says the following (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47448) 

The Government of India in its Eleventh Plan has given a major thrust to education. The Central Government has taken several initiatives in respect of new institution building. These include setting up of 30 new Central Universities …

I am happy to say that the State of Orissa is also getting its due share. We have decided in this Plan Period to have in Orissa State, one Central University, one National University aiming for world class standards, …

On July 21 2009, the following was again mentioned in the Rajya Sabha. (See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50715)

The Government is considering a proposal to set up 14 Universities aiming at world class standards at the following locations:-

…

14. Bhubhaneshwar (Orissa)

Universities aiming at world class standards would act as exemplars for other universities including Central Universities, in benchmarking standards of teaching and research to those prevailing in the best universities in the world. This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Rajya Sabha today.

Somewhere down the line, the nomenclature changed to "Innovation Universities" and two concept papers for it were made available at

• http://www.education.nic.in/uhe/Universitiesconceptnote.pdf
• http://www.education.nic.in/uhe/Concept-BGP.pdf

Following are some excerpts from the first one: 

… the XI Plan proposes the establishment of 14 Innovation Universities aimed at world class standards. These Universities would be at the fount of making India the global knowledge hub and set benchmarks for excellence for other Central and State Universities.

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Past the 11th plan there is possibility of additional central and national/innovation universities. (The Knowledge commission has talked about 50 national universities.) Orissa should be ready for these. In particular infrastructure (read "airport") is often being mentioned as an important criteria; especially for the national/innovation universities. Thus before the 12th plan document starts getting drafted, Orissa must have the Jharsuguda and Rourkela airports in operation and Berhampur linked properly to the Bhubaneswar airport through regular airport shuttle.

In addition Orissa leadership should from the very beginning (of the 12th plan drafting) focus on other parts of Orissa; otherwise Orissa will completely miss out on the new developments of the 12th plan which is only 3 years away. More details on how Orissa government can proactively shape the 12th plan by being prepared and by pushing for institutions that can be established in less-developed places (Balangir, Bhawanipatna, etc.) is discussed in http://orissa2020.org.

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Samaja’s confusing report is below.

December 6th, 2009

600 students from Puri area come out in support of Vedanta University

Following is from a report in Orissadiary.com. (I am copying this verbatim. But please visit the original news site and support its sponsors. The picture is from tathya.in)

Puri: A huge rally supporting the Vedanta University and demanding its immediate establishment has been organized today by the  student community of Puri district , here at Puri town. Over 600 students from various colleges of Puri district, under the banner of Youth and Student Forum, Puri (Yuba Chhatra Sangha) came together and staged the rally demanding the establishment of the proposed University. After a peaceful rally, the students submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India through the Collector, Puri, urging her to take concrete steps for the establishment of the proposed Vedanta University in their region.

The 2 hour peaceful rally started at around 10.30 am from the VIP Road, Puri and ended at the Puri Collector’s office where they handed over the memorandum signed by over 400 students from 8 colleges/educational institutions of Puri district including SCS College, Puri; Suraj Mahal Saha college, Puri; Government Women’s College, Puri; ADM College, Brahmagiri; Delanga College; Sakhigopal College; ITI, Puri, etc. On behalf of the Collector, the Sub-Collector, Puri received the memorandum from the students. Out of the 600 students who actively participated in the rally, 100 were girls.

The President of the youth forum, Mr Bipin Bihari Mishra and its Secretary Mr Atmaram Pandey, have given a detailed report on the need of Vedanta University in the area in the memorandum that was signed by over 400 students from different colleges of the region, clearly mentioning the name of their college, their class and roll number. In the memorandum, the students have spelled out the various reasons for which they demand the early establishment of the Vedanta University. The main reason is that the University will provide opportunity of world class higher education and high end research in several academic

disciplines at one place. Such an educational opportunity would also open up several avenues of employment in the country and abroad. This will be over and above the thousands of employment opportunities that the University itself can provide during its building phase and later on.

“A world-class university with research focus is a much needed thing in the area and Orissa at large. Thousands of people from the area will get direct and indirect employment opportunities with the establishment of this Vedanta University and it will also give opportunity to the students of Puri and Orissa to have world-class higher education at their doorstep. And hence, the government should take concrete steps for its establishment,” the memorandum says. Mr Mishra and Mr Pandey mentioned in the memorandum that even the National Knowledge Commission has recommended the establishment of more multidisciplinary universities like Vedanta University in Orissa and elsewhere in the country.

“While a world-class University is coming up in our area that will change the fate of our students and youth, some people with their vested interests are opposing it with baseless allegations,” they added.

1 comment December 6th, 2009

Status of various newly started central universities

Following is extracted from Swaha Sahoo’s report at  http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20091203/1053/tnl-makeshift-universities.html. It originally appeared in Hindustan Times. (The article has the first name of the CUO VC wrong. Her name is Surabhi Banerjee and not Saswati Banerjee.)

• Central University of Orissa, Koraput: Started with four teachers taking post-graduate courses in English, Oriya, sociology, anthropology and tribal studies, and journalism and mass communication. One lecturer left soon after joining."We are not short of faculty and have visiting teachers. The procedure to appoint regular faculty takes time," said vice-chancellor …. The university has plans to appoint 15 faculty members initially. With 150 post-graduate students … Guest lecturers are not too keen on visiting the Central University of Orissa because reaching Koraput, 450 km southwest of state capital Bhubaneswar, is difficult. A single passenger train a day runs from the state capital Bhubaneswar and takes 18 hours to reach Naxal-affected Koraput. The closest airport is in Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, a five-hour drive. "Unless some sort of infrastructure development happens in and around the central universities, attracting faculty and providing quality education will be difficult,” said … Banerjee.
• Central University of Haryana, Mahendragarh: Lord Krishna Central University of Haryana has been functioning temporarily from the Government Education College at Narnaul, the headquarters of Mahendergarh district, about 130 km west of Delhi. There is no place for teachers and students to stay at the college campus. There is a community health centre (CHC), only one cinema hall, a government school, and a few private schools in Mahendergarh. About 40 km from this place, about 500 acres of panchayat land for the university is under transfer. The process of admission for the M Phil and Ph D courses in English, Economics and Political Science is on. The temporary administrative office of the university is in Gurgaon, adjacent Delhi.
• Central University of Bihar: The state government wants to set up the central university in Motihari, 135 km north of Patna. Vice-Chancellor Janak Pandey has proposed for setting up a multi-centre campus, with Motihari as the main venue. Motihari does not have air connectivity. The university is functioning at a makeshift campus in Patna, mostly with teachers on contract from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. … In Bihar, the HRD ministry has attached conditions to the state government’s proposal for a central university at Motihari, 135 km north of Patna. Sibal wrote to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in October that the state government should develop infrastructure such as roads and air connectivity as soon as possible.
• Central University of Kerala: .. began two interdisciplinary courses – MA in Comparative Literature and Economic Theory and Global Governance – while only five of the 25 seats in Economics and 15 of the 25 seats in English filled. Teacher shortage …
• Central University of Gujarat: … 25 posts have been sanctioned, but since recruitment is yet to take place, the university has begun functioning with three teachers on contract, temporarily in Gandhinagar. Land is yet to be allotted.
• Central university of Karnataka: “We have constructed just a boundary wall on the 621 acres of land handed over to us and will soon begin construction,” said A.M. Pathan, vice-chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka.
• Most of the universities have come or are slated to do so in educationally backward areas such as Koraput (Orissa), Thiruvarur (332 km south of Chennai), Gulbarga (663 km north of Bangalore), Mahendragarh (in Haryana; 130 km from Delhi), Kasargod (650 km north of Thiruvananthapuram) and Bathinda (Punjab; 146 km west of Chandigarh). The following have temporary locations: Patna, Brambey (20 km west of Ranchi in Jharkhand), Jaipur, Gandhinagar and Kasrgod. The ones in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have not started functioning.
• … only five central universities (Haryana, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu) have managed to find land for setting up permanent infrastructure.
• In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, the dispute between the state and Central governments has come in the way of setting up the campus. 

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The following table  from http://www.orissa2020.org/appendix/location-of-new-central-universities gives a bit more information on the locations.
 

City – Metropolitan area	State	Metro population
Gandhinagar – Ahmedabad (temporary?)	Gujarat	5,334,314
Srinagar	J & K	1,104,489
Khunti, Ranchi	Jharkhand	1,066,449
Jammu	J & K	690,924
Bikaner (Changed to near Ajmer, 80 kms from Jaipur)	Rajasthan	624,577 613,000
Gulbarga	Karnataka	534,417
Sagar	Madhya Pradesh	351,537
Bilaspur	Chhatisgarh	319,129
Bathinda	Punjab	269,520
Koraput-Sunabeda-Jeypore	Orissa	200,000
Motihari	Bihar	121,475
Tiruvarar	Tamil Nadu	61,270
Kasaragod	Kerala	52,683
Tehri Garhwal	Uttarakhand	25,425
Mahendragarh	Harayana	23,977
Kangra	Himachal Pradesh	9,155

 

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These are all teething problems and as the campuses get built things will change for the better. Despite these problems, it is wise that many of the states picked the backward areas for these universities.

Some of the things the Orissa government needs to do is:

• Start a daytime train between Bhubaneswar and Koraput. The distance between them is 679 kms. (Note that Koraput has a daily train to Howrah and a new daily train to Rourkela has been announced in this year’s budget.)
• Start an intercity between Visakhapatnam and Koraput. (Distance is 216 kms.)
• Open a knowledge park of 200 acres near the central university. This knowledge park should contain an STP, and other amenities. the state should invite trustees of some of the top private engineering colleges to establish educational institutions such as engineering colleges in this knowledge park.

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Another point to note is that Central University of Bihar VC is planning a multi-center campus.  CU Orissa should do the same and have multiple centers in the KBK region.

December 5th, 2009

Vacancies galore in IITs, IIMs, IISc & NITs

Following is from a PTI report.

… the Lok Sabha was told today.

The vacancy has arisen due to retirement and resignations in these top institutes, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said in a written reply.

Giving details of the vacancies, he said the faculty position in the IITs stands at 2,983 against the sanctioned strength of 4,267. Similarly, there are 388 faculty members against the sanctioned strength of 468 in the IIMs.

The situation is no different in National Institutes of Technology (NITs) where the faculty position stands at 2603 against the sanctioned strength of 3747.

The scenario is critical in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore where there are only 210 faculty members while the sanctioned strength is 478.

4 comments December 3rd, 2009

The faculty at IIIT Bhubaneswar and their degrees

Following is gleaned from http://www.iiit-bh.ac.in/downloads/mandotaryDisclosure-2009.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1. Below I just give the name and the degrees. For other important qualifications such as experience, please see the above mentioned document.

1. Dr. Gopal Nayak, Director.  B.Tech and Ph.D IIT Kharagpur.PGDM IIM Bangalore.
2. Ajit Das, Dean and Professor. B. Tech IIT Khragpur. M. Tech Utkal. Pursuing PhD at Utkal.
3. Ramesh Chandra Balbantray, Assistant Professor, M.Sc and M.Phil in Maths from Utkal, M.Tech in CS from Utkal, Ph.D thesis submitted in 2007 at Utkal.
4. Ashok Das, Assistant Professor, M.Sc Mathematics IIT Kharagpur, M.Tech Computer Science and Data Processing, IIT Khragpur., Ph.D in Computer Science & Engineering submitted in June 2008 at IIT Kharagpur.
5. Anjali Mohapatra, Senior Lecturer, M.Sc and M. Phil in Physics, Utkal, M.Tech in Computer Science, Utkal, Continuing Ph.D at Utkal on Computational Molecular Biology.
6. Dr. Monalisa Ray, Senior Lecturer, M.Sc Physics Ravenshaw/Utkal, Ph.D in Physics, Utkal.
7. Dr. Tanutrushna Panigrahi, Senior Lecturer, MA and Ph.D in English from Berhampur University.
8. Dr. Rupaj Nayak, Senior Lecturer, MA and Ph.D in Mathematics from Utkal.
9. Dr. Biswajit Pradhan, Lecturer, MSc Berhampur and PhD  in Physics IIT Bombay.
10. Dr. Satyanarayan Pal, Senior Lecturer, M.Sc in Chemistry Vidyasagar University, Ph.D in Chemistry, Univ. of Hyderabad.
11. Muktikanta Sahu, Lecturer, B.E , BIET Bhadrak, M.Tech CET in CS & IT.
12. Lipika Das, Lecturer, MA in English Utkal, Continuing Ph.D at Utkal.
13. Usharani Rout, Lecturer, B.E Electrical IGIT Sarang, M.Tech BIT Mesra in Control System.
14. Puspanjali Mohapatra, Lecturer, B.E Electrical IGIT Sarang, M.Tech Computer Science, Utkal, Continuing Ph.D at Utkal.
15. Dr. Hiranmayee Satpathy, Lecturer, M.Sc Chemistry Utkal, Ph.D in Polymer Chemistry, IIT Kharagpur.
16. Bamadev Sahoo, Senior Lecturer, BE Mechanical IGIT Sarang, M.Tech Aerospace Eng from IIT Kharagpur, Continuing Ph.D in Mechanical at Jadavpur University.

24 comments November 30th, 2009

Correlation between Cafe Coffee Day outlets and Knowledge hubs – just for fun

Cafe Coffee day is a coffee outlet company which has 833 cafes across 118 cities, mostly in India. Often there is a correlation between number of people working in the "knowledge" sectors and coffee drinking. Using that parameter following is a ranking together with their metro ranking based on the Gazetteer.

1. New Delhi+Gurgaon+NOIDA( 114+26+18=158 ) – metro rank 2
2. Bangalore (141) – metro rank 5
3. Mumbai (120)  – metro rank 1
4. Pune (49) – metro rank 8
5. Chennai (45) – metro rank 4
6. Kolkata (38) – metro rank 3
7. Hyderabad (37) – metro rank 6
8. Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar (16+3=19) – metro rank 7
9. Jaipur (15) – metro rank 11
10. Chandigarh+Mohali(10+4=14) – metro rank 45
11. Vadodara (9) – metro rank 20
12. Bhubaneswar+Cuttack(7+1=8) metro rank 22, Goa (8), Nagpur(8) – metro rank 14
13. Coimbatore (7) metro rank 23, Mysore(7) – metro rank 34, Mangalore-Surathkal (6+1=7) – metro rank 66
14. Bhopal (6) – metro rank 17, Kochi (6) – metro rank 24, Guwahati (6) – metro rank 44, Indore (6) – metro rank 15, Ludhiana (6) – metro rank 19

Although the above is just for fun and I can see at least some inaccuracies (for example, Bangalore should probably at the top, and Hyderabad should be at least above Kolkata) it does make some sense.

In the context of Orissa, I think Bhubaneswar has a decent chance to be in the top 10 knowledge hubs of India within a few years, and not just in terms of coffee outlets; the top 8 are untouchable for Bhubaneswar (for at least the next decade), but it is a fair game after that.

12 comments November 25th, 2009