You lost your father at the age of four and had to struggle very hard to make both ends meet. Today you have reached the pinnacle of success. How does it feel?

You would not believe how much we had to struggle for one square meal a day. But it was destined that I would reach this stage. I am really thankful to God for making me what I am today.

Congratulations on winning the coveted Jawaharlal Nehru Award for your contribution to education. Is that the peak of achievement for you?

I feel overwhelmed with the honour. It feels great when your work is recognised. When one works with a selfless motive, God rewards you for it. I hope it would inspire others to contribute something to society.

A host of events are going on at the 99th Indian Science Congress at KIIT stadium and you are personally looking into everything, to ensure that things are conducted smoothly. How do you manage to do all these things without a hitch despite being so busy?

Not just me, all my colleagues and staff members have been working hard for the last one year to make the event successful. More than 18,000 delegates across the globe have come here. There has not been a single complaint. We are presenting Odisha, and not KIIT, to the world. My intention is to ensure that the delegates go back with a good impression of Odisha.

It’s agreed that private institutions such as KIITs have played a great role in raising the standard of education, especially technical education, in Odisha. But don’t you feel that the constant growth of engineering institutes will take a toll on quality?

There is a great demand for higher education. So, private institutes have come up to supplement the government ones. Every institute takes some time to reach the desired qualitative standard. In case of KIIT, it happened fast. I hope other institutes would soon reach the benchmark set by KIIT.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had in August 2009 asked deemed universities not to prefix or suffix “university” to their names but KIIT tags the word “university” to its name. You are also a member of the UGC. As the founder of KIIT, what do you have to say about this “violation of norms”?

These are mere allegations. There has been no violation of guidelines of any statutory body, including the UGC. There are uniform laws for all universities across India and KIIT is not an exception.

There are some people who believe that you influenced government machinery and succeeded in acquiring private and government land for your institutions. How do you react to this allegation?

Not a single inch of land has been encroached upon. The land has been acquired legally from the IDCO. We have also purchased land from private parties. The Odisha government has already clarified these things in the state Assembly. I am only the founder of these institutions (KIIT and KISS tribal residential school) but, ultimately, the fact remains that they are part of Odisha’s property and exist for the benefit of our children. All Odias should proud of this institution.

Today private universities have outstripped government-run universities in terms of excellence and resources. What is your take on that?

Things have changed over time. This is the age of competition where the fittest will survive. There are several reasons why the government institutions have fallen behind. As an educationist, I believe the delay in filling up faculty positions has affected the government-run schools and colleges. The various decisions of the policy planning board of the government take years to be implemented while in private institutes, things can be executed faster.

You appear to have become an institution yourself. Now that you have achieved so much in the academic field, would you like to branch out to newer areas?

My only aim is to dedicate myself for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden. At present, 15,000 tribal students are studying in the KISS residential school free of cost. I have bought land in 20 districts to open branches of KISS and educate 2 lakh tribal children. If other states approach me to open a KISS branch on their soil then I would go ahead with that.

They say man, irrespective of his inclinations, is a political animal. Do you, by any chance, intend to join politics at a later stage?

No, I have no intention to join politics. For example, Dr Kalam is not active in politics but doing so much for society.

You are a bachelor. Do you feel the need for a companion?

I am 46 and as of now, there are no wedding plans. But who knows what may happen in future?

A determined personality

A self-made man, 46-year-old Dr Achyuta Samanta, has been able to make his failure, frustration, anger and anguish as his pillar of strength

He started his career as a chemistry lecturer at a private college. He began a small initiative by starting a private engineering college in 1992-92 which has now turned out to be a full-fledged university, the KIIT University

Dr Samanta, a bachelor, hails from Kalarabanka village of the undivided Cuttack district

The fifth among the seven-siblings, Dr Samanta completed his matriculation from Raghunathpur High school of the Jagatsinghpur district. Later, he did his ISC (Plus Two) from SBM College, Jagatsinghpur

A post-graduate in chemistry from Utkal University, Dr Samanta has been inducted as member of the University Grants Commission

To eradicate poverty through education, Dr Samanta has set up the Kalinga Institute of

Social Science where more than 15,000 tribal children are residing and studying on the campus itself. He has been awarded with many prestigious awards including the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for contribution to education

Dr Samanta has played a great role in roping in personalities like the Prime Minister, President and a number of noble laureates to visit the university campus

What would you have been had you not been an educationist?

I was a lecturer in chemistry at the Maharishi College of Natural Law, Bhubaneswar, and would have continued teaching.

But I always had it at the back of my mind to do something worthwhile for the less fortunate.

With the active support of the late Pradyumna Bal, I started KIIT in 1992 with just Rs 5,000.

By God’s grace, we have come a long way now. But I like to live a humble life and not

forget where and how I started this journey. I still live at a rented house where you would not find more than 10 chairs.