Rourkela: Local MLA Dilip Ray has demanded that the Government Autonomous College here be made a deemed university.

"The college has all the required infrastructure. It is one of the oldest colleges in this part of the state and is known for its academic excellence and other achievements. I held discussions with some teachers and they were of the same opinion that the college should be conferred the status of a deemed university," said Ray after a visit to the college.

The college has over 50 acres of land at its disposal. However, 15 acres is being used by the authorities for other purposes and does not officially belong to the college.

"This is not right and I must bring this to the notice of the district authorities so that the land rightfully comes back to college account," said Ray.

College principal Debendra Behera said: "A college with five postgraduate courses can get university status. At present, we have 17 postgraduate courses and three MPhil programmes. We also have the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the Odisha State Open University functioning from our campus. Our student strength is over 3,400. We have 642 students in each year of our postgraduate classes. If we get the status of a university, we can recruit our own staff."