Orissa to hike seats in colleges by 20 per cent

Around one lakh more seats will be added to colleges in the state in the academic year 2015-16
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 13: In view of a rising demand for admissions to Plus II and degree courses, the government has decided to allow an increase in the number of seats in junior and degree colleges by 20 per cent, state higher education minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi said here Wednesday.
“Very good results have been registered in the high school certificate (HSC) examinations this year. In view of the demand for more seats and also to achieve Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s goal of raising the gross enrolment ratio in higher education sector, we have decided to hike the number of seats by 20 per cent in government and government-aided Plus II and degree colleges,” the minister told the media.
The minister said the seat strength might be allowed to be increased by more than 20 per cent in some colleges, depending on situations, but permission would be granted in such cases after examining the infrastructure position.
As per the decision, in total, around one lakh more seats will be added to colleges in the state in the academic year 2015-16. Earlier, during the discussion on demand for grants for the higher education department on the floor of the assembly in March, the minister had announced plans for a seat increase.
According to the department sources, there are as many as 3,50,612 seats in 1,470 junior colleges and 1,57,652 seats in 704 degree colleges across the state.