Jharsuguda: Higher education has gone haywire in the industrially rich Jharsuguda district due to alleged apathy of the state government in establishment of government colleges. The district needs robust institutions for spread of higher education; however, the state government has not established a government college in the district yet. Furthermore, it is yet to accord government status to any existing college in the district. This has led to students being deprived of higher education. While well-off guardians are able to send their wards to Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar or elsewhere and admit them in major colleges for study, students belonging to marginalised communities and lower middle-class households are unable to get such scope of study.
Sources said the district has the oldest railway junction in the state and also contributes immensely to the state and Central exchequers. Moreover, the mineral-rich has no paucity of funds with crores of rupees lying unused with the District Mineral Foundation (DMF). Several seasoned politicians have also represented the district in the state government from time to time. The district is a major business hub visited by entrepreneurs from across the country and outside. It is also well connected with various parts of the country after the establishment of the state’s second airport five years back. However, the government’s neglect highlights its apathetic attitude towards the district.
Reports said Jharsuguda was carved out as a separate district from undivided Sambalpur in 1994 when the late Biju Patnaik was the Chief Minister of Odisha. The former CM had then assured to establish a government college in the district but the promise has remained unfulfilled. The district has three main colleges — Lakshmi Narayan College, Women’s College and Brajarajnagar College which provide Plus II and Plus III courses. A long time has passed since the establishment of the separate Jharsuguda district but until recently, there was not a single college that provides post-graduation (PG) courses. After a student movement, PG courses were launched in five subjects at Lakshmi Narayan College recently. It was first started in the engineering school premises in the presence of former Chief Minister Rajendra Narayan Singhdeo, the then Jharsuguda MLA Murali Prasad Mishra, former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal and thousands of people in 1969.
However, it has yet to receive government status. The Women’s College established in 1982 is also yet to get government recognisation. The Brajarajnagar College is situated about 10 km from this district headquarters town. Established in 1978, it is now a fully-aided college but still lacks government status.
Similarly, the lone government engineering school in the district, established in 1955, is yet to be upgraded into a government engineering college. There are Plus II and Plus III colleges in four blocks of the district. Bhatalaida College, Basumati Science College at Samasingha, Jharianal College at Talamunda, Saheltikra College, Saligram Sakunia College at Talapatia, Indira Gandhi Women’s College at Brajarajnagar and Dwarika Prasad Agarwal College at Bagmara only provide Plus II courses and lack good infrastructure. There are only two vocational colleges in the district. One of them is Kolabira Panchayat Samiti College and the other is Kirmira Sobhan Memorial College. There are three other private Plus II colleges. However, five blocks of the district are yet to witness any significant development in terms of college education.