Bhubaneswar: After the Jawaharlal Nehru University, an Odia chair has been set up at the Banaras Hindu University on Wednesday.

The state cultural department and the varsity signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard. The chair has been named after Odia poet Upendra Bhanja.

Culture secretary Manoranjan Panigrahy signed the MoU with the registrar of the varsity, Neeraj Tripath. "The chair will facilitate studies and research of Odia language and literature, its cultural historiography and architectural potential among non-Odias and interested students and scholars," Panigrahy said.

The state government has provided Rs 5 crore for the purpose. The chair will have some research students who will take up subjects from classical and modern literature in a particular language and compare it with the literature of other languages of that time.

At present, eight government universities in the state, focusing on conventional streams of higher education, have Odia departments, but no chairs in Odia language.

A chair was opened in Jawaharlal Nehru University last year. Named after the legendary writer of the state, Adi Kabi Sarala Das, the chair is aimed at encouraging students of the varsity to learn Odia and carry out research in the area.

The Odia language chair in the Central University, Hyderabad, would be named after Bhaktakabi Madhusudan Rao. Another chair at Gandhinagar University in Gujarat will be named Utkal Bharati Kuntala Kumari Sabat chair.

At present, eight government universities in Odisha, focusing on conventional streams of higher education, have Odia departments, but no chairs in Odia language. The chair at Utkal and Berhampur varsities are not active either.

Odia was accorded a classical language status by government of India in 2014.

Four years after Odia language was officially granted classical status, the state government is yet to set up the centre of excellence for the study of Odia language.