Governor SC Jamir presents a gold medal to a student at Utkal University in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 27: Authorities at the Utkal University urged the state government to help revive the 50-year-old structure that requires a complete renovation, even as the varsity celebrated its 71st foundation day today.

Speaking on the occasion, chancellor of the varsity and governor S.C. Jamir asked the authorities to cooperate among themselves and avoid “infighting” for the betterment of the premier varsity.

Espousing the cause of the institution, vice-chancellor P.K. Sahoo said: “The university has to seek National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) re-accreditation that is now a mandatory requirement under UGC. However, with a large number of vacancies, inadequate infrastructure and no digitalised library, we can hardly venture to seek reaccreditation.”

“The lost special assistance programme status for many postgraduate departments have to be revived and this has become impossible as we are not able to fulfil the minimum requirements due to shortage of teachers. More departments are likely to lose their statuses granted by the UGC in the near future,” Sahoo said.

“The state government has declared a few postgraduate departments as centres of excellence, but these must be backed by additional manpower and funds,” he said. Registrar P.K. Mishra said that introduction of the choice-based credit system for postgraduate courses and the campus wide knowledge network had been the two most important achievements during this academic year.

“Cable connection has been made available to all the departments, the Parija library and to all the hostels on the campus besides the university law college,” he said.

Forty-five meritorious students, who excelled in their respective fields, received gold medals and scholarships on the occasion.

Poonam Dhal of the sociology department received the Latika Sundari Ray gold medal for being the best all round postgraduate woman student.

On the sidelines of the event, a group of students led by Tanmay Swain submitted a letter to the chancellor demanding central varsity Utkal University as a central university.