Bhubaneswar: The state government has asked the school and mass education department to prepare an action plan with timelines, of maximum three to five years, to achieve full separation of Plus Two colleges from degree colleges.

"A meeting to this effect was held on April 5 under the chairmanship of development commissioner R. Balakrishnan. Finance and other departments concerned departments have been asked to create the required posts and give clearance for recruitment in a time-bound manner," an official said.

Senior officials such as higher education department additional chief secretary G.V.V. Sharma, school and mass education principal secretary P.K. Mohapatra, higher education director Dhiren Kumar Patnaik, higher secondary education director S.L. Seal, special secretary to finance department P.C. Majhi and general administration department additional secretary G.C. Patra attended the meeting to give final touches to the separation of Plus Two colleges from degree colleges.

Officials governed under the grant-in-aid 2017 will come back to the aided-degree colleges after the process of separation is fully effective.

The higher education department has prepared a list of 67 colleges, which are World Bank-assisted projects, where the separation was feasible.

"At those places, the two principals of the colleges would sit together and amicably resolve the issue of separation of infrastructure, except for the playground. If that is not possible within a month, the governing bodies of the concerned colleges would decide the matter of separation regarding infrastructure," said an official.

The official said: "Wherever there is difference of opinion, director, higher education and director, higher secondary education, will sit together with the representatives of the colleges concerned to give final shape to the separation," official said.

The director of higher education has submitted a list of 49 colleges where the separation was feasible without any difficulties. The government has asked the two officers to complete the process of separation within one month.