Varsity status to Rajendra College soon: minister

Following is a report from the TOI:

Bhubaneswar: The Rajendra College (Autonomous), Balangir, will be upgraded to a university soon, said school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra at Balangir on Thursday. The ministerwas in the western Odisha town to open a subsidized cooked meal outlet Aahar. The move may materialize in 2017-18, he said.

It is part of recommendations made by the SP Adhikary Committee in the draft education policy-2016. The panel has suggested to delink colleges in Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada and Sonepur districts and bring them under the proposed university after upgrading Rajendra College.

Initailly, the college was affiliated to Utkal University. It was upgraded to a degree college in July 1946. It was brought under Sambalpur University in 1967.

Apart from Rajendra College, the draft education policy has also recommended upgradation of VD College-Jeypore, Rourkela Government College, Government College, Angul, and SCS College, Puri, to universities to ease the load of Berhampur, Sambalpur and Utkal universities.

Government sources said the state has recommended upgradation of VD College and DD College, Keonjhar, to universities under the central government’s Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan in the next academic year. No such recommendation has been made for the Balangir college to the Centre. Once upgraded the Vikram Dev College would be the affiliating university for colleges in Nabarangpur, Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts.