Bhubaneswar, July 17: The Odisha government has laid down a list of additional conditions for granting recognition to new colleges to restrict private institutions from mushrooming in the state,.

Apart from furnishing proof of possession of land for setting up a new college, applicants would now have to submit a photograph of the college building and other infrastructure details such as availability of adequate number of classrooms, laboratory, library, drinking water and toilet facilities.

Earlier, the proof of land possession — two acres in urban areas and five acres in rural areas — used to suffice for starting a new college. However, these strict guidelines set by the high power committee of the higher education department would ensure that the applicants do not hoodwink the state education authorities while seeking approval for opening a private college without ensuring the requisite infrastructure.

“The photo of the building standing over the recorded land of the institution duly countersigned by the tehsildar concerned must be part of the proposal. Besides, the existence of other colleges in the vicinity is another guiding factor (for according approval),” the committee observed.

The committee had also decided that the proposals to open new colleges would not be entertained until and unless the applicants submit a complete list of teaching staff for the college.

“It would be mandatory to provide the list of faculty members with their qualifications duly attested, their proof of identity in the form of photographs/ PAN cards and contact details like email-id, cellphone numbers and postal addresses,” the committee noted.

At present, there are over 1,300 junior colleges and 650 degree colleges (both government and private) in the state.

In the meeting last week, the committee reviewed the stipulations made in 2007 for granting temporary recognition to private colleges and decided to make the rules more stringent for opening new college, stream or enhancement of seats.