Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: Ramadevi Women's’ Autonomous College has submitted a proposal worth over Rs 100 crore to the government to upgrade the college as part of the Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). The college is soon going to be the first women university in the state.
“The proposal includes infrastructure improvement, creation of centres of excellence, faculty appointment, library automation and e-governance,” said principal of the college Chitrangada Samanta Singhar.
She said that the varsity would be constructed inside the existing 25-acre campus.
“We have sufficient land. Our immediate requirements are good laboratory facilities and high-end equipment. We need more rooms and an advanced library,” said Singhar.
Officials in the college said that the infrastructure and faculty requirement would increase further if postgraduate departments were started in the college.
At present, the college has postgraduate courses in Hindi and home science only.
While there are 1,152 Plus Two seats, the number of degree seats is 2,352. The college has already taken up its infrastructure development work. While a 400-seated hostel is being planned for the general women students, a 50-bed special hostel is being built for physically challenged students.
Incidentally, the Berhampur University and the Khallikote Autonomous College in Ganjam district are likely to overcome fund crunch shortly as these institutes have been included in RUSA for the next five years.
RUSA is a central government scheme, monitored by the ministry of human resources development. It aims at providing financial assistance to colleges and universities for infrastructure development, upgrading laboratories and strengthening of teaching staff and introduction of job-oriented and market-driven courses.
Berhampur University has submitted an Rs 80-crore proposal to the government. The proposal includes Rs 28 crore for infrastructure development, Rs 12 crore for research and development, Rs 25 crore for faculty development, Rs 5 crore for institutional reform and Rs 8 crore for academic support activities like introduction of new courses,” said Deepak Kumar Behera, vice-chancellor, Berhampur University.
Similarly, the Khallikote Autonomous College has sought Rs 79 crore under RUSA. The funds will be utilised for appointment of quality teaching staff, developing laboratories and library facilities. This apart, the college has sought for construction of a new campus on 50 acres under the scheme.
However, the Utkal University and the Fakir Mohan University Balasore have not submitted the proposal yet. The state government has served an ultimatum on the two institutions to send their plans by January 10.
