Bhubaneswar, July 26: The state government has announced through its guidelines that if a private or government university seeks the status of a skill university, it should be in existence for a minimum of five years and with the approval of the University Grants Commission without any break.

The university should have minimum five years of experience in imparting short-term and long-term skill training programmes. The university also should have National Assessment And Accreditation Council certificate with at least "A" grade.

This apart, it should have the experience of training 25,000 youths in past five years under government programmes or government agency sponsored schemes or certification with a capacity to train at least 5,000 youth per annum. The institution seeking the skill university status should earn a national reputation on skill development.

According to the notification, the varsity should have the experience of working with state government departments and Union government ministries. It should also have collaborations with leading industries in the field of skill training. Moreover, the institute should be imparting multi-disciplinary course curricular in the field of technology and skills and should have well-trained faculties with industry exposure.

Besides, having tie-ups with leading industries in the field of skill training, the institution should have social and community engagement.

Providing skill training to disabled and other such special categories of students is also required.The applications to get the status of the skill university will be evaluated by an expert committee and based upon its recommendation, government will accord due recognition to the concerned university through appropriate notification.

The expert committee will comprise vice-chancellor of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology as its chairman. The other members, include vice chancellor of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, director, employment and member secretary, Odisha Skill Development Authority, representatives of Panchayati Raj department, two experts to be nominated by the government and director, technical education and training, as member convener.

Jumbo threat

Students of Jyotipur Upper Primary School under the Champua block in the Keonjhar district had to go without Mid-Day Meal on Wednesday as a herd of elephants ate up their meal stored in the school. "Fifteen elephants barged into our school on Tuesday evening by demolishing the boundary wall and ate up everything after breaking the window," said a student Pushpanjali Dehuri.

Three killed

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police and a mother-son duo lost their lives in two separate road accidents in the state on Wednesday. The ASI, Digambar Panda, fell from his bike after losing control because of slippery road near Kanchur at Hinjili in Ganjam district. In another incident, a stone-laden tractor hit a bicycle on which a boy and his mother were travelling on the Mangalajodi-Tangi road. The deceased were identified as Kuntala Sahu, 45, and her son Bibhuti, 14.

BJP protest

A student of Sailabala Women's College brought charges of misbehaviour against a BJP worker in Cuttack on Tuesday. The girl said the BJP activists burnt tyres in front of the college and threatened the students not to enter the college. The state BJP had staged demonstrations across college campuses on Tuesday to protest against rampant incidents of ragging and demanded strict action against the culprits.