Baripada: Two decades have passed since the second campus of the North Odisha University in Baripada was set up at Suleikhama in Keonjhar, but adequate infrastructure has not been developed and eight departments have not been regularized even after government approval, a report said.
Even though many posts of teaching staff have been lying vacant, no step has been taken to fill them up, affecting students.
The report said, 74 teaching positions — lecturers, professor and assistant professor — are yet to be filled in the main campus at Baripada and the second campus at Keonjhar.
There are eight regular departments and 15 self-financing departments at the main campus. The second campus has five regular departments.
The Department of Higher Education had issued a letter (17286) dated June 11, 2018, giving stamp of approval to eight courses such as Anthropology and Tribal Studies, Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation, Master In Business Administration, Master in Social Work, Mathematics, Master in Education, Master in Computer Science, and Integrated B Ed and M Ed. But these courses have not been made regular.
In the current year, these eight courses are in self-financing mode. Due to self-financing, students have to suffer financially.
Old students had staged an agitation over this issue in the past. With posts lying vacant and eight courses yet to be regularized, admissions to these courses are declining.
Notably, the North Odisha University was initially launched in Bhubaneswar, July 13, 1998. Former Chief Minister Giridhari Gamang had inaugurated the university in Baripada July 11, 1999.
The university has a 99-acre campus while its second campus is on 13.05 acres of land.
Nearly 100 colleges were affiliated to the university. They included three autonomous colleges, a medical college, a homeopathy medical college, an Ayurvedic medical college, two B Ed colleges, a special B Ed college, five nursing training colleges and two Law colleges.
Duryodhan Behera, former president of the University Students’ Union, alleged that students have been suffering because of the apathy and negligence of the university authorities.
He warned of agitation, if the vacant posts are not filled.
PNN