Paradip: Established with the active support of the then Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik in 1993, Odisha Maritime Academy at Bhimabhoi Colony in the port town of Jagatsinghpur district is presently facing several problems.
So far, 2,240 students from Odisha and other states have passed out from this academy and are presently working in different regions of the globe. But they do not include a single girl because the academy does not accept girls as students.
Lack of infrastructure and necessary permissions are said to be the reasons behind not accepting girls. Girls who wish to make a career in maritime are searching for other similar academies. The academy’s staff appointment is done by the state government’s Transport department.
Ironically, none of these staff members are paid any salary. As a result, the nine employees are giving tuitions to meet family expenses. What ails them most is that they are neither recognised as government employees nor contractual staff.
They have been given appointments on annual contract basis. Similarly, for the smooth management of the institution, a managing trust has been formed by the Centre and state government. However, no meeting of the trust has been convened for a long period.
Notably, Odisha’s former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik started Kalinga Baliyatra at Paradip in 1992. On that occasion, he sent an Odia girl named Nibedita Acharya to Indonesia as ‘Sadhaba bahu’.
During that period, there was hardly any opportunity for local youths to get appointments at ports or in ships. Realising the importance of maritime study, Biju Patnaik announced setting up a maritime institution in Paradip in the same year. After the approval from the Director General, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, the institution was set up. It started officially from April 3, 1993.
While the Commerce and Transport department of the state government is managing the institution, the trust has DG, Shipping, Secretary of Transport department and personnel from Indian Navy as its members. To meet the initial costs, money was procured from various sources, including the state government and Paradip Port authorities.
The port authority has developed most of infrastructure of this academy over the years. Ironically enough, as of now, all developmental work at the academy have come to a halt. “The academy is not receiving a penny as donation,” claimed academy’s principal Manas Ranjan Behura.
The academy offers courses for only six-month duration with each batch comprising 40 students. Of these, 20 seats are reserved for students from Odisha, while the remaining seats are for students from other states. The academy provides hostel and practice facilities. The admission fee for the course is Rs 1,20,000.
Each year 80 students are enrolled. Students, aged between 18 and 24 years having educational qualification from Matric to graduation are entitled to take admission.
Talking about the placement of students after completion of the course, academy lecturer Sushant Mahalik said that after passing out from the academy students can get jobs as sailors in any country.
Echoing the same, retired Navy officer and an employee of the academy, Pratap Chandra Nayak, said that the institution is jointly run by the Central and state governments. Its chairman is DG, Shipping.
Regarding exclusion of girl students, he said the managing trust has not received any approval from the government to start co-education classes. This apart, the academy does not have separate hostels and classrooms for female students.
PNN