Orissa needs two central universities: Sahadev Sahu in Dharitri
November 5th, 2007
Orissa’s share of central universities in the 11th plan: Samaja op-ed by Sahadeva Sahu
November 2nd, 2007
Radhanatha Institute of Advanced Study in Education to become part of Ravenshaw University? : Samaja
Samaja writes about the plan to shift the Radhanatha Institute of Advanced Study in Education to Ravenshaw University campus. (Note: The site http://www.nuepa.org/libdoc/addresses/iase.pdf lists other institutes of advanced study in education in India. Its a old list though as it does not list the other IASEs in Orissa. See https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=238.)
October 25th, 2007
BHU submits Rs 3100 crore plan to become a world class university. Does any Orissa university have a similar plan?
Following are excerpts from a report in indiaedunews.com.
With plans to transform itself into a global educational centre in the coming years, the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has submitted a Rs.3100 crore plan to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
The proposal for the 11th Five Year Plan includes Rs.2800 crore for the main campus and Rs.300 crore for the South Campus of the varsity located at Barkachha in Mirzapur.
The university has also gone ahead with developing an Ayurveda faculty along with a 125-bed hospital, said BHU Vice Chancellor Professor Panjab Singh.
The institute’s Rs.100 crore proposal to establish an Institute of Science is also under the consideration of the Central Government.
The process of setting up an Institute of Law, Management and Social Sciences was also in progress, the V-C added.
I think Ravenshaw University, if it hopes to become a central university, should send such a plan. (One may note that of the 30 new proposed central universities, 14 are supposed to be world class universities.)
October 12th, 2007
Orissa at the bottom of the major states in terms of higher education enrollment: Orissa must get two central universities
As per the NSSO study of 2004-2005 (released in October 2006), Table 3.14.1 (of Report 516) shows that in the 15-19 age group 29% people in Orissa are attending school/college and in the 20-24 age group this number for Orissa is 6.1%. (Both numbers are lowest among all but the small states/UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.) Our focus in this posting being higher education, one may note that higher education corresponds to the 20-24 age group.
Now the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=31735 says that:
The 11th Plan objectives are aimed at increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER) (access rate) in higher education from the present 10% to 15% by 2012, while ensuring improvement in quality and enhancement of equity.
Now if one looks at the data below it is a no brainer that one of the 14 world class central universities (30 total – 16 to states that do not have any) must be established in Orissa.
October 11th, 2007
Orissa Society of the Americas writes about central university and IIT to the CM and PM: Various reports
Update1: Dharitri’s short report is given below.
This has been reported in Tathya.in, Kalinga Times, and Odisha.in so far. Odisha. in has the two letters.
We appeal to the readers with interest in Orissa to contact their local organization (Outside Orissa, the local Orissa/Oriya/Kalinga organization) and through them send a similar letter to the PM and CM at the earliest. The planning commission has been asked by the PM on September 14th to make the location decisions in two months. So time is running out on this.
2 comments October 8th, 2007
On Central University matters Bihar is awake, Orissa is sleeping
(Request to readers associate with Orissa: Please send a request to cmo@ori.nic.in with cc to hedsec@ori.nic.in, "indsec@ori.nic.in" <indsec@ori.nic.in>)
The last paragraph of the New Indian Express report says the following:
Fatmi said that the Central Government proposed to set up a Central University in Bihar as part of its plans for 30 new Universities. Though the University Grants Commission (UGC) suggested the upgradition of Patna University, the Government wanted to set up Central University, besides upgrading Patna University.
However, although we have sent several communications to the Orissa government on making a similar effort for a second central university for Orissa — beyond the automatic one presumably in the KBK region, the Orissa government has been silent. Tathya.in reports on our efforts and the resulting frustration.
Following are mails that we have sent to the CMO.
Dear Esteemed Chief Minister:
On August 15th the PM announced that there will be 30 new central universities, with 16 of them in states that do not have any. (That means Orissa will get one and since Orissa has been asking for a central university in KBK, it should go to KBK.)
As per the PM’s address to the planning commission few weeks back, the remaining 14 central universities will be decided on the basis of competition. See https://www.orissalinks.com/?p
=634 and https://www.orissalinks.com/?p =652. Since India already has 23 central universities (none among them is in Orissa) and the new 30 ones will take the total to 53, Orissa deserves not just one but two central universities. (Note: Orissa is the 11th largest state of India in terms of population and 9th largest in terms of area.)
But as the PM clearly said, the 14 (30-16) central universities will be decided on a competitive basis. THUS, Orissa govt. must send a proposal on this to the HRD ministry and the PM. This needs to be done as soon as possible as the PM gave 2 months time to the planning commission for deciding on the locations and close to 3 weeks has already gone by.
I would like to propose that the Orissa govt., send a proposal immediately to upgrade Ravenshaw University as a central university.
This is because Ravenshaw matches the best with respect to all the conditions that the PM mentioned in his address to the planning commission. In particular:
Ravenshaw is a unitary university. i.e., Like world class universities such as most universities in the United States, and like most of the existing central universities in India (such as JNU, BHU etc.) Ravenshaw does not have any affiliated colleges.
Ravenshaw‘s location at the heart the millennium city of Cuttack and also in the middle of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan area makes it easy to access and the presence of top-notch educational and research institutions near it makes Ravenshaw a good candidate for becoming a world-class knowledge hub; i.e., a world class central university. (The PM mentioned this criteria explicitly.)
Ravenshaw had made plans for its expansion in directions that are in unison with the goal of a world class university that the PM talked about.
- Among all universities in India that may be considered for an upgrade, Ravenshaw is in a unique position by virtue of its recent designation as a university. The existing faculty of Ravenshaw are Government of Orissa faculty and are not automatically entitled to be Ravenshaw faculty. So Ravenhsaw can be choosy in retaining only the ones that are qualified to be a faculty in a world class university. The others may revert back to the Government of Orissa to be posted to other colleges in Orissa.
- Finally, Ravenshaw is one of the oldest higher education institutions of India with a glorious past. Its alumni is almost who’s who of Orissa.
In closing, I would urge you to not miss this opportunity for making a case for a second central university in Orissa. Otherwise we will continue to remain behind, while other states will have 2, 3 or more central universities.
sincerely,
Chitta Baral
2 comments October 6th, 2007
Ravenshaw University hall to be accorded Heritage Status: Pragativadi
Following are excerpts from a Pragativadi report.
The state government has decided to accord heritage status to the 140-year-old historic hall at the Ravenshaw College soon.
Announcing this, culture secretary Gopinath Mohanty said that the College Hall of Ravenshaw …, was constructed during the tenure of Thomas Eric Ravenshaw who was then the commissioner of Orissa in the British Raj.
The hall with a capacity of 300 people plus another 200 people in its gallery, had housed the first historic session of the Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1936, he added.
The authorities of the Ravenshaw
DeemedUniversity have drafted a plan for conservation and promotion of the heritage building at a cost of about Rs 1crore to attract tourists and heritage lovers to the site.As decided, the state government would provide Rs 40 lakh for conservation of the hall and installation of a light and sound system for the visitors in the first phase.
The walls of the hall will be decorated with paintings and photographs depicting the 140 years history of the famous educational institution to give it an apt ambience.
2 comments September 22nd, 2007
Orissa govt ad in Samaja: accomplishments in higher ed and higher secondary education
September 7th, 2007
Samaja interview with Dr. P. L. Nayak – Scientists are neglected in Orissa
Dr. P. L. Nayak is an expert in biodegradable polymers made out of agricultural feed-stock such as maize and is the Chairman of the board of directors of the company SPC Botech in Hyderabad. He did a lot of his research on this topic during his days in Ravesnhaw College, Cuttack. Following is an interview of him in Samaja.
September 2nd, 2007
Tathya scrolling text: Ravenshaw University likely to get Central University Status
7 comments August 29th, 2007
Computer courses will be introduced in Ravenshaw varsity arts programs
The Pioneer and others have reported on it. Following is a short excerpt from the Pioneer report.
Computer Science will no more remain confined to the Science and Commerce Stream. It will also be taught in the Arts Stream too.
Firstly, it will be introduced in the RavenshawDeemedUniversity.A decision to this effect was taken at a high level meeting convened by the Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Triapthy on Tuesday. Henceforth, computer science will be a compulsory subject in the graduation level in Arts, Commerce and Science Stream.
August 2nd, 2007
Orissa government discusses next steps for Ravenshaw
Following are some excerpts on this from a report in New Indian Express.
The State Government has proposed to the newly formed Ravenshaw University to introduce Computer Science as an elective subject in all disciplines.
… Keeping in mind the importance of information technology in the present scenario, computer education should be offered as a subject in all disciplines – art, science and commerce, the meeting observed.
The Government has also decided to fill up all teaching posts in the university this year and as a first step, all teaching
staffposition [*corrected*] of the erstwhile Ravenshaw College would be transferred to the university. The posts lying vacant would be filled up through recruitment. Out of the total sanctioned teaching posts of 144, as many as 26 posts are presently vacant, official sources said.A decision has also been taken to transfer the existing lecturers to government colleges in phases and make fresh recruitment in their place. The non-teaching staff would be given an option to continue in the university or go to any government college on transfer. The meeting resolved that a decision on the introduction of new subjects in the university should be taken only after reviewing the existing self-financed courses.
Following is Sambada’s report on it.
2 comments August 1st, 2007
More details on UGC’s support to Ravenshaw University
Indiaedunews.net has more details on UGC’ s support to Ravenshaw. Following are some excerpts.
Cuttack: The newly-formed Ravenshaw University (RU) has become eligible to receive Central financial assistance under section 12 (B) of UGC Act 1956. The university authorities recently received a letter from UGC undersecretary Urmila Gulati.
The communique states that: "The University shall abide by the instructions, guidelines, notifications, rules and regulations as issued by the UGC from time to time". It may be noted here that a team of members from UGC had visited the campus earlier this month to verify the facilities available at the university that was last year upgraded to its present status from an autonomous college.
As per the UGC norms, the varsity would now get an immediate assistance of Rs.1 crore for development under "Young University" scheme. "The Government is now going to abolish all existing posts of the erstwhile college and in their place, fresh recruitments will be made soon for the newly formed university," said Satyakam Mishra Registrar of RU.
Ravenshaw University is a state University which came in to existence on 15th November, 2006. The university has been upgraded from the erstwhile Ravenshaw College established in 1868 which was one of the oldest and largest autonomous colleges in India.
August 1st, 2007
Appeal on behalf of Ravenshaw University
Dear all:
Many of you may know that Ravenshaw became a university http://ravenshawuniversity.com/ on November 15 2006. It received UGC approval on February 6 2007. (https://www.orissalinks.com/?p
The last one, by virtue of the little time it took, is an *unbelievable* achievement for Ravenshaw and opens the way for it to take big steps towards its future. For this all Ravenshaw administrators deserve mega kudos. The difficulty of getting the "funded by UGC" status can be judged by the fact that several other universities established by the Orissa givernment, some for more than 5 years, do not yet have the tag. This includes BPUT, North Orissa U at Baripada, Fakirmohan U at Balasore and Utkal Univ of Culture. Sure, Ravenshaw’s past history must have helped; nevertheless this is a great achievement.
One can also have a look at the presentation that Ravenshaw VC gave at Detroit on July 1 2007 available at https://www.orissalinks.com/?p
and notice how the VC and his staff have made a visionary plan; and not just a plan, they have acted on some of it already. The later includes convincing the
government of Orissa to promise (allocate?) land and funds for a new campus.
I had the opportunity to meet Devdas babu (VC of Ravenshaw) in January and also in July in Detroit. He has been very receptive to ideas. He suggested that it would be great to have an electronic gathering place for friends and alumni of Ravenshaw. Hence, I have created a yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group
If you are serious in suggesting ideas, and not just that but in acting towards the fulfillment of those ideas, please consider joining the group to network with
like-minded people. For the next week or so, I will open up the group so that people can join directly, without needing an approval.
best regards
Chitta
ps — I am not a Ravenshaw alumnus. I think Ravenshaw is Orissa’s pride and we must help make it a top university in the world and an opportunity where we
have a VC who welcomes help, and who has shown his ability to do things and cut red tapes should not be missed.
pps- PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS WHO HAVE CONCERN FOR ORISSA.
FOLLOW-UP
How will this group be different? How exactly can it help Ravenshaw?
Let me illustrate this by an example.
After many people heard Devdas babu (VC of Ravensha) in Detroit a group of them decided to help develop a school of contemporary music, possibly named as "Akhaya Mohanty School of contemporary music" at Ravenshaw. They are now in the process of raising an amount of money suggested by Devdas babu. Devdas babu said that if they raise X then he will be able to use it to get 5-10X from the government.
Another group (mostly consisting of professors in science disciplines in North America) has discussed with Devdas babu about renovating the Science curriculum at Ravenshaw.
Yet another group is interested in the establishment of Creative Writing program where budding poets and novelists can learn and practice their art. Apparently their are not many programs like that in India. I wonder if there is any in Orissa.
Other groups have suggested their help in establishing a Journalism program and making Ravenshaw, perhaps the first university in India to have its daily newspaper, if not paper based, but at least in the web. (Most US Universities have daily newspapers.)
Yet another group is interested in helping Ravenshaw to use the availability of past judges in the Cuttack area (including some supreme court judges) to establish a law school in the mold of National Law School in Bangalore.
These are some of the ideas that are under works. Devdas babu has said that he welcomes more such ideas, and actions towards the fulfillment of those ideas.
So this is what the group http://groups.yahoo.com/group
best regards
Chitta
3 comments July 29th, 2007