By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union PNG-Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank urging for his intervention in granting the Central University status to the Utkal University.
“There has been a longstanding demand from members of the academic fraternity of Odisha for granting Central University status to Utkal University.Compared to neighbouring States like Bihar, which has four Central Universities, and Andhra Pradesh, which has three Central Universities, Odisha only has one, Central University of Odisha, Koraput which is primarily catering to the needs of students in the southern part of the State,” Pradhan wrote in the letter.
“There is an acute necessity for setting up a second Central University in the State, especially around Bhubaneswar. Classifying Utkal University as a Central University would not only cater to the needs of students from coastal and eastern Odisha but also create tremendous potential for employment generation, industry-academia interface and advanced research in the region,” he mentioned.
“Keeping in mind Utkal University’s 75-year-old heritage and tradition of nurturing excellence of higher education in Odisha, the needs and welfare of students in Odisha and the Prime Minister’s vision of empowering institutions of higher learning in the country, promoting research as well creating industry-ready manpower, I request your personal intervention in granting the status of a Central University to Utkal University,” Pradhan concluded.
