Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: Women who once wielded ladles in kitchen are today out in the fields to produce better crops.
Not only has there been a steep increase in the number of girls opting for agriculture studies, most of them have outsmarted their male counterparts to grab top scores in the various programmes offered by Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).
Of the total 43 university gold medals awarded to various students during the convocation of the OUAT, 30 women received gold medals. Ankita Sahu from the College of Agriculture alone bagged 13 gold medals.
“The number of women who want to study agriculture has seen a rise in the past three or four years. What is more encouraging is that girls are doing better than boys and most of our girl students are getting into government jobs, research and academics,” said vice-chancellor D.P. Ray.
During the academic year 2011-12, of the total 615 undergraduate seats in various colleges under the varsity, 321 (more than 50 per cent the of seats) have been taken by girls. Of the 194 seats in the college of agriculture, 113 have been taken by female students. The trend continues in the postgraduate seats, in which of the total 378 students, 173 were girls.
The varsity, which did not have a single girls’ hostel when it was established, has seven today. “So much is the demand for hostels that the authorities are now planning to convert a boys’ hostel into a girls’ hostel. Another old hostel, which was shut down for want of repair, is now being renovated so that girl students can be accommodated,” said the vice-chancellor
Looking at the increasing number of women in the campus, the OUAT authorities have provided special facilities for girl students. “We have special yoga classes and sports trainers for the girls. Besides, arrangements have been made to see that girls can play indoor games such as badminton or table tennis. This apart, we have arrangements for students who have interest in dance, music or other cultural programmes” said dean of students’ welfare R.K. Das.
Most of the girls in the batch that graduated recently have been absorbed as junior agriculture officers, junior horticulture officers, veterinary assistant surgeons and assistant agriculture engineers while the remaining have opted for higher studies and research.
