Archive for June, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has finally agreed to set up a satellite campus near Hyderabad. The decision was taken at a board meeting of the premier B-school on June 24, according to government officials.
IIM-A will set up a strategy committee next month to look into the various aspects of setting up the campus. The faculty at this campus will be part of IIM-A. “This is IIM-A in Hyderabad, and not IIM-Hyderabad,’’ a state government official clarified.
We would like to bring up a facility at Hyderabad but would also need a corpus of Rs 100-120 crore for the same. Either the government or the local industry would have to contribute towards this. We, however, will not accept it (financial aid) if it comes with strings attached like asking for quota for students, etc,” IIM-A Director Samir Barua said when asked to comment on the issue.
“We could begin with our one-year management programme for executives as that would be the most feasible option and later expand. …,” he added.
The process was initiated by the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who had written to the IIM-A management, urging it to set up a campus in his state. He had promised to provide 150 acres near Hyderabad for the proposed campus, and also, if necessary, arrange an interest-free loan to the tune of Rs 100 crore. …
The incumbent chief minister,… wrote … on May 31, reiterating the commitment of the state government. “We will facilitate the same by allocating the necessary land and providing required support for realisation of IIM-A’s seamless campus initiative,” Rosaiah said in a letter to Vijaypat Singhania, chairman, board of governors of IIM-A.
… The state government, meanwhile, is encouraging management, science and technology institutes to set up their campuses in the state to create skilled manpower base to sustain higher economic growth. It has invited Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, CMC Vellore, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (Pilani) and others.
See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/2848 for our earlier coverage on this.
June 30th, 2010
Also heard it from other high ranking sources that the CM has approved Xavier University. So this should come up in the next cabinet meeting and hopefully in the next assembly session or possibly even in the next half of the current assembly session.
Genesis (from sources): The idea for making Xavier University was first mooted in June 2009. It has taken a year for it to get the CM’s official nod. I was told that the time in between was spent in convincing various officials and ministers in the government, drafting the bill and getting the proposal approved by the XIMB board.
June 28th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
Plans for setting up 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) is likely to be shelved with the finance ministry suggesting that the proposal could be considered for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period.
The HRD ministry had suggested that the institutes be set up in the private-public partnership mode during the current five year plan.
The Eleventh Five Year Plan comes to a close in 2012. The ministry had outlined its proposal for consideration by the Expenditure Finance Committee. The Planning Commission had already given an in-principle approval to the proposal.
“The finance ministry did not agree to the proposal of setting up of 20 IIITs in the Eleventh Plan. It has said the scheme can be considered during the Twelfth Plan,” an official said.
June 28th, 2010
The above report mentions the following universities:
- Jagadguru Kripalu University, near Naraj in Banki tahsil
- Techno Global University
- Amrita University
- Open University for Skill Development
June 27th, 2010
Following is from a report from tathya.in.
Replying the adjournment motion on Vedanta University in the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) here on 26 June, Minister said that before acquiring the land for the proposed Vedanta varsity project at Puri, the Vedanta Foundation was turned to a Public Limited Company.
Before approving for land acquisition the Department of Higher Education asked Vedanta authorities to turn Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) as Public Limited Company.
On 6 November 2006, authorities of AAF applied to Government of India for conversion of Private Limited Company to Public one.
On 22 November, 2006 the Regional Director, Ministry of Company Affairs, Western Region, Mumbai ordered the conversion is granted subject to compliance of condition required for change of structure under various sections of the Company act.
On 23 November, 2006, Anil Agarwal Foundation held its extra ordinary General Body meeting and adopted resolution for compliance of the conditions and converted the Memorandum and Article of Association from a Private to Public Limited Company.
On 24 November, 2006 AAF informed the State Government in this regard.
Quoting the recent Supreme Court judgement, Minister said it is permissible under law.
On 29 November, 2006, the Department of Higher Education informed the Department of Revenue for acquiring the land in favour of AAF for the university project.
On 13 December, 2006, Department of Revenue notified the same for land acquisition.
So no wrong was done on the above matter, reiterated Mr.Mohanty.
See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4196 for our earlier discussion on this.
June 26th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a 2005 report in Hindu.
Toshali Plaza mansion, constructed by the Orissa Housing Development Corporation in 1998 over an area of 3.19 lakh square feet at a cost of Rs 15.65 crore, resembles a deserted palace in a posh locality of Bhubaneswar. The unoccupied mansion has more than 2 lakh square feet of office space.
A page linked from the IIT Bhubaneswar home page (click on Facilities) mentions that some classes will be held in Toshali Plaza this year and the boys hostel will be 5 minutes from it.
The tender at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/pdf/tender/RFP_Toshali_Satellite.pdf for installing networking and wi-fi in Toshali Bhawan (earlier called as Toshali Plaza) refers to it as a satellite campus. It also gives the floor diagram of the first four floors.
Finally the article https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4801 on progress of the new IITs says the following:
IIT Bhubaneswar: .. claims to be the first IIT out of the eight new IITs to be operating on its own infrastructure. "This is partially our own campus and we are the only IIT to be operating out of our own campus. Even after we move out to our permanent campus at Arugul, this building will continue to be our city centre.
Does this mean that IIT Bhubaneswar has bought or taken a very long term lease on Toshali Bhawan? That is my guess.
I guess they are or will be renovating it and it will look much prettier than the above picture. However, the picture gives an idea on how big that complex is. 3.19 lakh sq feet is huge. That is 29,636 sq meter. As a comparison the size of the planned academic township of NISER Bhubaneswar is 65,000 sq meter. Similarly the size of the planned academic complex of IISER Pune is 34000 sq meters. Thus IIT Bhubaneswar will have plenty of space to grow and hire more faculty until its main campus is ready in Argul.
Toshali Bhawan is also located centrally in Bhubaneswar; only about 2 kms from the Bhubaneswar station. It is four hundred meters from the Forum mall (the first mall of Bhubaneswar; with a Pizza Hut and many other eating places) and fairly close (about 3 kms) to the SBI colony where some of the student and the faculty housing are.
If indeed IIT Bhubaneswar was able to buy this huge complex, besides the current Director (Prof. Chakraborty) and Registrar (Mr. Ray) one must also thank Prof. Damodar Acharya who most likely (my speculation) saved IIT Bhubaneswar tons of money by having the first year classes in Kharagpur at almost zero cost to IIT Bhubaneswar. Also, the second year classes were partly held in the IIT Kharagpur extension center in Bhubaneswar, possibly at a low rent.Those savings may have played a big role in this purchase. All those savings plus the projected rental cost until the main campus is ready probably covers the cost of buying and renovating Toshali Bhawan. Kudos to IIT Bhubaneswar Director and Registrar for this financial and real estate masterstroke.
Down the road, after IIT Bhubaneswar has its main campus ready, this satellite campus in the middle of the city would be very useful in being the venue for offering graduate courses and short courses.
June 26th, 2010
Following is from a report in webnewswire.
Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar(XIMB) announces Financial Planning and Wealth Management Program in New Delhi, for graduates, working professionals and enterpreneurs providing services to financial sector and for those who hold keen interest in the same sphere. This program will expose the participants to various theories and practices of Financial and Wealth Management enabling them to equip with the techniques with which they can handle their current business tasks in better and effective manner.
Since, the prime objective of the program is quality education that would help in better career prospects in corporate sector, the core faculty of XIMB would hold the sessions at Lodhi Road imparting both practical and theoratical insights of the financial world. The lectures would be a judicious blend of physical classroom sessions, instructor lead training, quizzes, case studies and project works. Participants would be benefited both academically and professionally as this program would have a high market value and branding among the corporates.
During the total tenure of 6 months integrated approach to learn various aspects of Finance, Financial Services Insurance(Life, Non-Life), Risk Management, Pension Planning, Estate and Tax Planning would give participants holistic perspective of Financial Planning so that they can shoulder greater responsibilities in their future career. Details of the program is available on www.indialearn.com or www.alethia.in.
Eligibility of the program is minimum 50% in graduation. Participants can attend the lectures without compromising their working schedule. The admission process would include application form+written test followed by personal interview. Participants will be awarded with a certificate from XIMB after the completion of the program.
Total fee is of Rs.50,000+ service tax. The documents required for the admission are certified copy of official academic records, copy of work experience (with attached visiting card) and four passport size colour photographs.
Admission forms are available from Ms Darshana Vyas at darshana@creativecrest.com and these can be obtained free of cost.For further information call 011-46076571 or 9268730013.
I was told XIMB is also exploring offering short courses in Dubai. These initiatives should help further increase the brand value of XIMB. In addition extra money from these initiatives could be deployed in the proposed Xavier University and new XIMB campuses in Khurda and Balangir. Odisha government should fast track the Xavier University Bill and any issue (such as land allotment) associated with the new XIMB campuses.
June 25th, 2010
The list made on 14th June is available at http://www.aicte-india.org/listofnewinst.html. The eastern region seems to have fared very badly. Only two new institutions have been recommended out of which one is in Odisha. That institute is:
Mahendra Institute of Management and Technical Studies, Khurda. To offer PGDM.
For the institutions that were not approved appeals were scheduled on 18th June. See http://www.aicte-india.org/appealsch.html and http://www.aicte-india.org/downloads/appealschedule/Appeal%20Eastern.pdf#toolbar=0&zoom=85. That list has many proposed institutions from Odisha. It remains to be seen if some of them succeed. The institutions from Odisha in that list are:
- ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, Bhubaneswar (Management)
- BHADRAK ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- Bhubaneswar Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- CAPITAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE, Bhubaneswar (Management)
- CAPITAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- DRIEMS BUSINESS SCHOOL, Cuttack (Management)
- Fakir Mohan Autonomous College, Balasore (Management)
- Government College (Autonomous), Angul (Management)
- Hirakud Institute of Engineering & Technology, Baragarh (Engineering)
- INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- KRUTTIKA INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- Pentagon School of Management, Bhubaneswar (Management)
- Radhakrishna Institute of Engineering and Technology (RITE), Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- RAYAGADA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, Rayagada (Engineering)
- Saraswat Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (Management)
- Shibani Institute of Business and Management, Bhubaneswar (Management)
- SRI KRISHNA CHAITANYA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, Bhubaneswar (Engineering)
- UDAYANATH COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Adaspur (Management)
For the list of proposed institutions from Odisha that were in the pipeline see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4683.
June 25th, 2010
The report is available at http://dheorissa.in/DHE/pdf/FinalTaskforceReport.pdf. Although the report took into account many of my suggestions I am not completely happy with it. I plan to submit a separate individual addendum to it.
Please feel free to comment on the report. I may be able to take them into account in my planned addendum.
The executive summary of the report is as follows:
Task Force on Higher Education was constituted by the Government of Odisha on 7th October 2009 under the chairmanship of Prof. Trilochan Pradhan as requested by the Minister of Higher Education, Tourism and Culture, Sri Debi Prasad Mishra. The mandate of the Task Force was to prepare two annual plans for years 2010-11 and 2011-12, two five year perspective plans corresponding to the 12th and 13th plan periods respectively as well as a draft higher education policy. During a period of four months the Task Force completed eighteen interactive sessions, two State Level Workshops and five Regional workshops, one each in North, South, East, West and Central Regions of the State. In addition to this, sectoral consultations were organized with stakeholders of School and Mass Education, Technical, Medical, Agriculture and Management sectors. The suggestions of the members of the Task Force and citizens from all sectors of the civil society have been received through email, surface mail, written submission and discussions across the table. The Task Force has taken into consideration all these in the preparation of the report. The report embodies the collective endeavour of the members of the Task Force and the stakeholders of regional consultations.
The key recommendations of the Task Force are in three major areas, namely Restoration, Expansion and Consolidation covering the periods of 2010-12, 2012-17 and 2017-22 respectively. Expansion, inclusion and excellence have been the guiding principles of the deliberations of the consultations.
Key Recommendations
1. State Council of Higher Education (OSCHE): A State Council of Higher Education, in the lines of the NCHER, needs to be created. Financial provision must be made in the budget for creation of the council in the coming financial year. Many of the recommendations of the Task Force would be implemented by the OSCHE.
2. Delinking Higher Secondary (+2) from the ambit of Higher Education: The +2 classes need to be separated from the degree colleges. Budgetary support to augment infrastructure and funding from Rastriya Madhyamit Sikhsya Abhiyan (RMSA) may be used to make this a smooth transition.
3. Degree Colleges: All degree colleges should adopt semester system and choice based credit programmes. All vacant posts must be filled with permanent staff. Selected autonomous colleges may be made into branch campuses of universities. Teachers should be regularly evaluated to ensure accountability.
4. Universities: Model University Act. Statutes should be drafted so that universities may use their autonomy for better governance. All regular vacant positions of the universities should be filled up on a priority basis. Faculty need to be regularly evaluated to ensure accountability. Programmes of the universities need to be revamped and choice based credit system may be followed. Each university campus should have about 50 affiliated colleges and a few identified research centres. Each university must have up-to-date web site with all information about the university.
5. New State Universities and Branch Campuses: A number of new affiliating universities, unitary universities, branch campuses of existing universities, a new University of Management Education and a new State Open University have been recommended. Suggestions for locations of these institutions have been received in the consultation process after assessing the educational need. An expert committee may be formed to look in to these and come up with final locations based on the detailed project report based on feasibility.
6. Attract Private Edupreneurs: Private universities should be established through Acts passed by the state legislatures.
7. Set up Research Centres: Establishment of research centers of excellence in various areas of local relevance must be pursued and these should be affiliated with the existing universities and institutions of national importance such as IIT, NISER, IIIT etc. Central funding for the same must be vigorously pursued to strengthen the existing and planned research centers.
8. Enhance Quality of Education: All plans for expansion must have a major thrust on enhancing quality of education. Hence due care must be taken for developing skills of teachers for enhancing teaching-learning transaction, creating conducive academic environment, improving the learning infrastructure, putting technology enabled learning into practice wherever possible, reforming examination systems, need-based revision of curriculum, etc.
9. Engineering Colleges: The existing state funded engineering colleges need to be revamped and their vacant positions need to be filled at the earliest. In addition 5 new State Institutes of Technologies have been proposed in the model of NIT with a focus on post-graduate education to mainly cater to the faculty needs in the state.
10. Medical Education: By 2022 each of the 13 undivided districts of Odisha should have one operational medical college, be it private, state funded, or PPP based. The three major medical colleges of the state should be upgraded to affiliating Health University status so that institutions in medical and allied subjects such as nursing and pharmacy etc. can be brought under their fold. A Rural Health Practitioner (RMP) program should be introduced in conjunction with all district hospitals to address the critical shortage of medical practitioners in the rural areas of the state.
11. Skill and Vocational Education: Odisha should create a community college system imparting skills that are in demand and providing opportunities for distance education, nonconventional career progression, developmental education, and continuous learning.
12. Education Development Fund: Financial mechanisms need to be devised so that all deserving students can access the opportunity to pursue higher education and finance should not be a constraint. Similarly no educational institution should suffer from lack of long-term low interest capital to pursue their goals of development. For this purpose, Education Development Fund should be set up along the lines of the Educational Financing Corporation being contemplated by the central government to enable infrastructure development as well as provide study loans.
13. From Mineral Resources to Human Resources: All private and public sector companies that are using Odisha’s mineral resources must be encouraged to contribute in creating higher education institutions.
14. Public Private Partnership: Encourage public-private partnership mode to set up institutes of higher learning. The proposed OSCHE needs to have a mechanism to monitor and regulate such efforts for the larger interest of all the stakeholders.
15. Financial Implication: The Task Force proposes that the State funding for Higher Education must increase to meet the cost of proposed expansion. The Task Force has estimated resource requirement of about 55000 crores over a period of 12 years to implement its recommendations at current prices. Similarly it is estimated that similar amounts may be generated through private sector projects and centrally funded projects.
16. Taking advantage of the Central Government Schemes: Taking advantage of the central government’s ambitious plan to achieve 30% GER by 2020, the state should seek all available resources under different schemes such as those for establishment of National Innovation University, IIM, National Institute of Design, Model colleges in Educationally Backward Districts, Tribal University etc. Besides all effort must be made to emphasize the special need of the state to develop its infrastructure in the remote tribal areas and priority funding must be.
Phases of Implementation
The Task Force proposes the following plan for implementation of the above recommendations:
i. Restoration and Preparation for Expansion (2010-12)
a. Separation of +2 from higher education and integration in School Education
b. Filling up of vacancies in regular positions
c. Setting up of Model colleges in educationally backward districts
d. Initiate the establishment State Council of Higher Education and other legislative
actions needed to carry out the recommendations.
e. Set up communication laboratories and high speed broad band internet access
f. Set up Management Information System and e-admission
g. Prepare ground for rapid expansion
ii. Rapid Expansion (2012-17)
a. Set up new affiliating Universities and institutions
b. Set up Unitary Universities by up-gradation of existing institutions
c. Set up branch campuses
d. Take initial steps for setting up research centres
iii. Consolidation (2017-22)
a. Expand Technology Enabled Learning
b. Strengthen quality initiatives
c. Strengthen governance through State Council (OSCHE)
d. Mobilisation of additional resource
The Task Force has taken note of the hopes and aspirations generated through the whole process of its activities. The major recommendations based on the inputs received from the stake-holders centre around three important areas: i) Creation of new institutions, ii) financing of higher education and iii) bringing governance reforms. Hence the Task Force recommends to set up a committee to advise the Government to work out further details.
June 25th, 2010
I became aware of this program from the following ad in Samaja. I was not aware of any such program before.
More details about the program is available in the site http://www.hdf.org.in/graminITC/Introduction.
June 24th, 2010
Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.
The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) University Bill received the green signal of the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) today.
… Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education piloted the Bill, which was introduced in the Monsoon Session of the Thirteenth Assembly.
Mr.Mishra agreed few changes in the Bill and it was passed after discussion.
… According to latest accommodation, two Members of the House and Secretary of the Department of Higher Education(DHE) will in the Board of Management(BOM) of the University.
Mr.Mishra also agreed to the proposal for granting concession to students belonging to ST, SC and OBC students.
Assembly asked the ICFAI authorities to prepare Fee Structure on the Guidelines of University Grants Commission (UGC) and other regulatory bodies.
Similarly the Endowment Fund will be raised to Rs.5 crore, which was Rs.3 crore.
… With the Bill cleared , now the Hyderabad-based ICFAI would invest Rs 150 crore in setting up a university in Odisha.
The university would have strength of about 1,500 students and offer courses in various disciplines like engineering, management, law, science and humanities.
… ICFAI has identified 30 acres of land between Bhubaneswar and Khurda for setting up its proposed university.
June 24th, 2010
Dear Mr. Anil Agarwal:
I am not sure if this message will reach you or not. I hope somebody forwards it to you.
I am very concerned with the lack of progress with respect to Vedanta University and I am sure you are too. I am not sure who is advising you, but with the Vedanta University Bill passed by the Odisha assembly, there is really no excuse, especially for Vedanta (I will explain why), to not commence the university.
The Vedanta University MOU was signed in 2006. That same year the Govt. of India announced an Indian Institute of Science type institute in Bhubaneswar and that institute NISER http://niser.ac.in/ started classes in 2007 and its 4th batch of students will be starting this August (2010). An IIT for Odisha was announced in 2008, and that same year classes started and this August (2010) the third batch will be joining IIT Bhubaneswar http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/ .
In Saudi Arabia KAUST http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ was also announced in 2006 and classes commenced there in 2009.
I realize the grand plans for Vedanta University and I have seen the masterplan document; it is really a masterpiece and there is nothing like that in India and for that matter in the world. But with the delays happening in land acquisition, getting environmental clearance and construction, please consider starting some individual units immediately while the matters are sorted out by the environment ministry (not Odisha govt. fault) and the Odisha high court.
Let me give a particular suggestion.
India is in dire need of good Mathematics Ph.Ds.
The new IITs, IISERs and NISER are having difficulty in finding good Mathematics Ph.Ds to hire as faculty. You can verify this by talking to their directors. I have. There are only few institutions in India which have good graduate programs in Mathematics. They are Chennai Mathematical Institute http://www.cmi.ac.in/ , Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai) http://www.imsc.res.in/, TIFR, Indian Statsitical Institute and some of the IITs. But their output is not able to match the demand.
So what Vedanta University could do is to immediately open a "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" in a temporary rented accommodation in Puri or Bhubaneswar.
It can then hire young mathematics Ph.Ds from top institutions in US and western countries. Note that, while it is hard to find good Math Ph.Ds in India, in the US, even Math PhDs from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Princeton and Berkeley have difficulty finding good academic job. Many end up teaching in community colleges. Many Ph.Ds from these top institutions will jump at the chance to have a good academic job in a university like the one Vedanta University aims to be. Vedanta Univ can take advantage of this and within TWO months can easily hire 20-25 such faculty and become the best Mathematics Institute in India or perhaps Asia. Within 4 years after that this "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" would graduate Ph.Ds who will then join top institutions across India.
Imagine if you had done this in 2006. Vedanta graduates would now be faculty in all IITs.
The above is just an example. Vedanta University could identify 2-3 such areas that do not need huge infrastructure and that have the kind of mismatch mentioned above and start graduate programs in them within THREE months.
This will bring the much needed credibility and everyone will take notice. It will also silence many of your critics who make all kinds of allegations. Most of these allegations are baseless, but they did push the Environment minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh to stop progress.
The way to counter that is to show them that you are really serious. You can do that by immediately opening a few graduate institutes of Vedanta University.
You have done this in other context. The Lanjigarh factory is an example.
Please consider a similar approach here. Please do not wait any longer in commencing the Vedanta University.
sincerely,
Chitta Baral
Professor
Arizona State University
http://www.public.asu.edu/~cbaral
June 23rd, 2010
Update 2 on July 12 2010: Orissadiary gives the locations of 11 of the schools.They are:
… one school each in Kutra in Sundargarh district, in Cuttack city, in Bhanjanagar in Ganjam district, in Mayurbhanj town, in Sonepur, in Deogarh, in Jajpur, in Digapahandi of Ganjam District, in Aska of Ganjam district, in Nuapada, in CISF in Cuttack district. Besides, … Prabhakar said.
Update: As per http://www.c2clive.com/latestnewsdetail.php?id=1354 in total Odisha will have 12 new Central Schools. They will be in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Ganjam, Subarnapur, Deogarh, Jajpur, Nuapara and Sundargarh. Earlier in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4222 we listed the districts in Odisha that did not have Central Schools. These new schools will cover that list except the district of Kendrapada.
June 23rd, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in pharmabiz.com.
The Department of Ayush has initiated efforts to upgrade nine more institutions in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy as National Institutes of Ayush under the central sector scheme to uniformly improve quality of tertiary level healthcare and improve facilities and standards of medical education to meet global demand of Ayush.
The institutes, which would be upgraded to National Institutes through the current and the next Five Year Plans are the Institute of Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Govt Ayurvedic College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Govt R A Poddar Ayurvedic College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Govt Ayurvedic College, Patna, Bihar, Rajiv Gandhi Govt PG Ayurveda Colege, Paprola, Himachal Pradesh, Govt Ayurvedic College, Guwahati, Assam, Govt Ayurveda & Unani Tibbiya College, Karol Bagh, New Delhi, Govt Dr A C Homoeopathy Medical College, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa and Govt Nizamia Tibbi College, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Detailed project reports on requirements to upgrade these institutions, aiming to achieve the optimum infrastructure in the next five years, would be prepared soon. The project would be divided into two phases, where in the first phase would cover the capital work at equipment required and the salary, stipend and cosumables to be put in place in the current Five Year Plan, posted to end in the financial year 2010-11.
The second phase of upgradation to develop infrastructure to achieve optimum requirements, would commence in the 12th Five Year Plan, starting from the financial year 2011-12. Since these are existing and functioning institutions, the two-phased project would be appropriate for the proposed upgradation, comments Dept of Ayush sources. A call for eligible consultant firms to engage in preparing detailed project report has been issued by the department of late.
Post upgradation, the Ayurvedic institutions could accommodate 100 BAMS, almost 100 MDs and PhDs and 25 nursing students per year, even as the Unani and Homoeopathic institutions would have 100 BUMS/BHMS seats and 35 MD seats for seven subjects per year, uniformly.
The proposed National Institutes are part of the departments effort to upgrade the educational standards in the Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy colleges in the country, strengthen existing research institutions and ensure a time-bound research programme on identified diseases for which these systems have an effective treatment, draw up schemes for promotion, cultivation and regeneration of medicinal plants used in these systems and to evolve pharmacopoeial standards for ISM and Homoeopathy medicines.
… The existing bed strength will be upgraded to 200 for Ayurvedic and Unani institutions and to 100 for Homoeopathy institutions with adequate treatment and diagnostic facilities and full-fledged testing laboratories with complete computer facilities will be in place in each of these institutes to bring in development of the segment in regional level.
At present, the department has eight apex educational institutions established to promote excellence in the Ayush segments – The National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, Rajasthan, National Institute of Siddha, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore, Karnataka, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi, National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune, Maharashtra, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata, West Bengal, Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth, New Delhi and the Institute of Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat.
While it is good that Dr A C Homoeopathy Medical College in Bhubaneswar will be upgraded to a national institute, I wish it was an aurvedic college instead of a Homeopathy college. Thats because I do not think "Homeopathy" is backed by science. See for example the videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtJgCzPgL0, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpvLCkajxc0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jqP_1beVXQ&feature=related.
June 23rd, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.
… the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has already showed green signal for setting up of two such schools one at Malkangiri and another at Nuapada. Presently, there are 11 such schools in the State of which 10 are operating in tribal areas and the rest one has been set up Ramfilo in Jajpur district.
It is to be noted here that education is imparted to students from Class VI to +2 in these residential schools. There are 210 seats each in both +2 Science and Commerce streams of these schools. The Central Governments provides Rest 12 crore for establishment of each such school.
June 23rd, 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
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