Berhampur, Oct. 11: A number of problems plague Women’s College, Paralakhemundi, the only degree college for women in Gajapati district.

Established in 1983, the college ran from the hostel building of the MRBH High School, Paralakhemundi till 2005. Now, it has its own building and is spread over 1.6 acres of land. “The land available is not even fit for a playground. Although a local MLA had provided Rs 8 lakh for the construction of more classrooms, we were confused about how to utilise it. Finally, we decided to make a multi-storied building,” said Shankar Bakshi, principal in-charge of the college. At present, there are 10 rooms, clearly insufficient for the 700-odd students, Bakshi said. “We recently made a common room available to the girls. Now, we are trying to start a canteen for the students,” he added.

Another problem is hostel accommodation. “We have initiated steps to construct a 60-seater ladies’ hostel on the campus. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has provided Rs 40 lakh for the hostel building. We are also trying to get accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council,” he said.

The library has only 8,000 books against the minimum required number of 15,000 and the UGC has provided Rs 60,000 to purchase new books. The college offers honours in education and history and had applied for honours in political science and English last year.

However, the college is in great demand.“We received 296 applications for 160 seats. This reflects the importance of the college,” the principal said.