Utkal University. (file picture)

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: Utkal University hasn’t made any headway yet in setting up an IAS coaching facility on its campus that was planned last year.

The varsity authorities had written to nearly a dozen nationally reckoned coaching institutes to collaborate with them for the purpose. However, they are yet to receive positive response.

“We had written to 11 reputed institutes in Delhi, Bangalore and other cities. While some said they were not interested to venture out of their respective cities, a few others have not replied yet. We had even sent them a reminder in December last but there has been no response from their end,” said PG Council chairman, P.K. Sarkar.

He said the university officials would “personally visit” the prospective collaborators in a month or two to discuss a possible tie-up.

“The correspondence is still on. It would be worth the wait if we get a reputed institute to partner with us. Several local institutes had approached us to collaborate for the proposed IAS coaching facility. But we turned down the offer since we were not satisfied with their performance standards,” he said.

Sarkar, however, admitted that over the years, there had been a decline in the number of aspirants from the Utkal University who had been able to crack the IAS entrance exams.

“The main reason is that our syllabus has not been revamped since years. However, we are working to upgrade the course curriculum so that our students can compete with their counterparts in Delhi or other cities which produce IAS officers,” he said.

Another reason behind this declining number of candidates was that not many students in the university, except those from the arts faculty, were interested for civil services, the PG Council chairman said. “Those enrolled in our science departments and self-financing courses show more interest for campus placements, or take up a job or research work immediately after graduating,” he said.

On the other hand, another premier university of the state, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, has been running an IAS Study Circle since 1963. It provides free coaching to aspirants — especially those belonging to the socially disadvantaged sections — for civil service exams and national eligibility test.

In the present batch, a record number of 300 students have been enrolled. “Usually, 80 to 100 students take admission for the six-month preparatory course. But the number shot up after the advertisement for Odisha Administrative Services was published last year and also because the IAS exam pattern would also undergo changes from 2013. However, the fact remains that the number of aspirants from this university and the state who have cracked the IAS entrance test and other national-level competitive exams has gone down consistently over the years,” said director of IAS Study Circle Priyabrata Majhi.

This coaching facility at Ravenshaw gets financial support from the University Grants Commission (UGC), Delhi, the state ST and SC development department and, the school and mass education department.

“Earlier retired professors used to teach here but these days it is becoming difficult to find and motivate teachers who want to tutor the students for a nominal fee of Rs 300 per class. Fortunately for us, some of the younger teachers at Ravenshaw have come forward to coach the IAS aspirants,” Majhi said adding that the ST and SC development department provide a monthly stipend of Rs 300 to the students enrolled in this study circle.