Sambalpur: A record number of 1,37,970 certificates were on Wednesday distributed to those, who passed from Sambalpur University, on the varsity's Burla campus.
Sambalpur collector Samarth Verma inaugurated the certificate-distribution ceremony. Principals and representatives of 240 colleges attended the event and took certificates of their respective institutions. Certificates to students had not been issued since 2014. This came to lime light when Deepak Behera took charge as the varsity vice-chancellor on February 18. As a special gesture, he started disposing it by signing 1,000 certificate every day.
Although employees' union of the varsity had resorted to relay dharna in support of their seven demands, they supported the authorities in disbursing the pending certificates.
The employees have been demanding implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, permanent jobs to contractual employees, filling of vacancies and employment on the rehabilitation scheme. "We are observing relay dharna without effecting the normal work," said the union's general secretary Dilip Kumar Badpanda.
"This is perhaps for the first time in the Indian history that such a mega event of distribution of certificates was organised to release such a huge number of certificates in a single day," a senior employee of the university and trade union leader Mahendra Mishra said.
With the active co-operation of the employees, the distribution work was smoothly completed, he said.
"I am happy and relax today. My mission has become successful. For the first time in the history of the university, such a mega event was conducted to disperse huge number of certificates in a single day. I sincerely thanks the officials for their co-operation for completing this gigantic task," Behera said. Among others, vice-chancellors of Gangadhar Meher University and Odisha Open university A. Pati and Sitakant Mohapatra, respectively, attended the function.
An official said: "Doctoral degrees and gold medals are awarded. But, no body is bothered about the fate of other undergraduates, postgraduates and diploma holders."
