Bhubaneswar, April 18: The state government's promise of reducing disparities between the urban and rural areas by enhancing support to educational institutions located in the backward zones has mostly remained on papers.
The draft of the New Education Policy, 2016 has once again ignored Kalahandi - one of the backward districts of the state. The discontentment is all the more, because the district recently lost out on the Sardar Raj Medical College, the only private medical facility established in the district, due to mismanagement and lack of proper facilities. Despite the repeated pleas by educators to the government for takeover of the college, nothing has been announced as yet, leaving the local people high and dry.
Demanding the university status for the Government Autonomous College, Bhawanipatna, in Kalahandi, its students' union has blocked the National Highway-26.
The college was set up in July 1960 and conferred with the autonomous status in 2002. It was also given the status of "College with Potential for Excellence" by the UGC and accredited "B++" grade in 2005 by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.
The institute was among the first three colleges in the state to receive the "Potential Centre of Excellence" tag by the UGC. The two other colleges (G.M. College and Khallikote College) have already been made unitary universities by the state. "Surprisingly, this college will not be converted into a university. If affiliated universities can be made each for Puri-Nayagarh, Dhenkanal-Angul and Sundargarh-Deogarh (even for undivided Balasore alone) why not for Kalahandi-Nuapada? Especially, when this region is well known for backwardness, lower gross enrolment ratio, poor regional distribution of higher educational institution and high concentration of tribal population," asked Digambara Patra, from the American University of Beirut and a former student of the college.
"This region needs special consideration to have more national institutions and universities, especially to develop a higher education corridor. Otherwise all the arguments using lower gross enrolment ratio and regional disparity is meaningless," said Patra.
Earlier, state government's higher education task force had recommended to upgrade the college to an affiliated university for Kalahandi and Nuapda region. It was also being considered under the Rusa scheme of the ministry of human resource. In 2008, Sambalpur University had also proposed a branch campus at Bhawanipatna, but in vain.
"There is an urgent need to increase the access and equity for marginalised groups such as women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBC (non-creamy layer), minorities groups to make higher education inclusive and hence, a university status for this college will ensure that," said Sandeep Sethi, a former student of the college.
Lok Sabha MP A.K. Deo stepped in and has written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik demanding the same.
