Bhubaneswar, March 21: The Naveen Patnaik government wants to establish Odia chairs in varsities, both in the state and outside, to promote the language in a big way, but the education minister is oblivious of the presence of similar facilities at Utkal and Berhampur universities.

The existing chairs, which were named after renowned litterateurs and set up between 1985 and 1990 to promote Odia language, have been lying vacant for almost a decade for lack of government funds.

However, education minister Pradeep Panigrahi expressed surprise and today told The Telegraph that he did not know that such chairs to promote Odia language existed at Utkal and Berhampur universities.

Talking to The Telegraph, Panigrahi said: "I am astonished why the university authorities had not raised the issue before me earlier. They did not even informally discuss it with me."

Panigrahi also said: "Authorities of the universities have been raising various issues, including lack of infrastructure, but not once did they mention about these chairs."

His statement comes in the backdrop of a report ("Varsity chairs lie in neglect") that The Telegraph had carried today.

Panigrahi's response also reveals a lot about the state of affairs of the education department and should be seen in the context of finance minister Pradeep Amat's budget speech pledge to set up Odia chairs in six universities to promote the language.

Eminent linguistic and head of the department of Odia, Berhampur University, Debi Prasanna Patnaik said: "The education minister was a student of the university when a chair in the name of Upendra Bhanja had been established. Even the university was named after him. He has already been informed about the state of the Bhanja chair."

In a veiled criticism of the minister, Patnaik said: "If the education minister says he is not aware of the development. I am helpless and undone."

Vice-chancellor of Utkal University Ashok Das, however, countered Panigrahi's claim that the varsities authorities did not raise the issue of the chairs with him.

Das said: "The government has already been informed about it. My question is, when the government has announced new chairs at a number of universities, why the interest of the premier institute of the state has been ignored?"

Das went on to add that universities ran with financial support of the government. "If the government does not support, it's very difficult to revive any chair," the vice-chancellor said.

The chairs named after great litterateurs are lying vacant at the Utkal University for the past decade. These chairs were established in the name of eminent poets Mayadhar Mansingh and Artha Ballava Mohanty. The third one is in the name of Satyabadi, the workplace of Pandit Gopabandhu Das who is considered to be one of the architects of modern Odisha.

The chair at Berhampur University is in the name of poet Upendra Bhanja. It was set up in 1990 and has been lying vacant since 1999.

However, without reviving these existing ones, the state government announced to set up six chairs at universities in the state and outside. These chairs will be set up at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre of Indian Languages, Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, Sambalpur University, Berhampur University and Fakir Mohan University.