Bhubaneswar, April 14: The state government is planning to upgrade five more colleges into full-fledged universities in order to lessen the burden on the existing varsities.

"Five colleges, including Rajendra College in Balangir, will be accorded university status," said school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra today.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Balangir, Mishra said a formal announcement in this regard will be made by the government during the next academic year. Mishra is part of the higher education task force constituted by the state government.

A special panel formed to draft the New Education Policy-2016 has suggested Rajendra College be upgraded to a varsity and control colleges in Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapara and Sonepur districts.

The four other proposed colleges that would be made universities are Vikram Dev College in Jeypore, Rourkela Government College, Government College in Angul and Samanta Chandra Sekhara (SCS) Autonomous College in Puri. The affiliating universities in the state, including Utkal, Berhampur, Sambalpur and North Odisha are expected to monitor the colleges under their ambit and ensure the colleges have necessary infrastructure and adequate quality teachers. However, in most cases, the number of affiliated colleges are far too many. Most of these colleges are far from the main university campus and co-ordiantion becomes difficult.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has suggested to limit the strength to a maximum of 100 affiliated colleges per university for effective administration and monitoring their quality.

The autonomous colleges including Gangadhar Meher College, Khallikote College and Rama Devi Women's College were upgraded into universities last year.

Expressing happiness over the announcement, Madhusudan Pal, the principal of Rajendra College, said: "It is a great news for the students and parents of Balangir district." He, however, expressed concern over the limited infrastructure at the institution.

Rajendra College is steeped in history. The then ruler of the erstwhile Patna state and later the chief minister of Odisha, Rajendranarayan Singh Deo established the college in 1944. It was then affiliated to Utkal University. It was upgraded to a degree College in 1946.

The college started functioning under Sambalpur University from 1967 and later granted autonomy by the UGC in 2002. It offers three-year degree courses and postgraduate programmes in arts, commerce and science.

There are 406 degree seats and 152 postgraduate seats. The college is accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).