Birla Global University Bill passed in Odisha Assembly

Following is a report from the IE:

Amidst a walk out and protest by Congress and BJP members, the Odisha Assembly today passed the Birla Global University, Odisha, Bill – 2015.

The Bill, which was introduced by state Higher Education Minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi, was passed in absence of opposition Congress members who protested rejection of some of their amendments.

“The objective of the bill is to impart quality education in the state through the Kolkata-based Birla Academy of Art
and Culture, a non-profit making trust registered under the Indian Trust Act, 1982,” Panigrahi said.

Stating that academic activities in the proposed university would start in two years, the Minister said the
institute would become a private self-financed unitary university in the state.

There would be seven schools like management, architecture and planning, social science and humanities, law,
natural science, marine science, and communication to function under the Birla Global University, Panigrahi said.

The state government has already provided 29.4 acres to Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) at
Gothapatna, Bhubaneswar and the promoters have created physical infrastructure to set up the institute, Panigrahi
said, adding the proposed university would be run by a board of governors, board of management, academic council and finance committee.

Xavier’s Institute of Management (XIMB) plans for a University at Sambalpur

Following is a report from the http://www.pagalguy.com:

Bhubhaneswar-based Xavier’s Institute of Management (XIMB) is in the process of turning into a university soon, its Director Fr PT Joseph, SJ tells PaGaLGuY. In this interview, he also speaks about the curriculum changes the institute is planning for its Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and the PGDM Rural Management courses.

What changes can the incoming batch of 2013 look forward to benefitting from at XIMB?

From the point of view of the fulltime programme students, we will be revising the curriculum a little bit next year. Apart from that, although it doesn’t directly affect PGDM or PGDM(RM) students, but we have started a 1-year advanced management programme on Resettlement and Rehabilitation and Corporate Social Responsibility for 15 executives of Uttarakhand’s Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. This along with our other initiatives in the rural management and social sector will continue to be under focus in the coming year.

Are you looking at an increase in intake for any of the the two-year programmes?

We were looking at expansion in the number of seats but the proposal hasn’t gone past AICTE’s regulations. But we may become a university soon and therefore increase intake from a university perspective. That process might take one or two months to finalize, but we are in the process of becoming a university.

Would that mean that the PGDM degrees would be offered as full-fledged MBA degrees under the XIMB University?

The PGDM will still remain as an AICTE-approved course, it may not become a university degree for now. But after we get university status we may start some other type of programmes under the university. Right now we have gotten the government sanction of Rs 10 crores and are involved with acquiring the necessary land for the University in Sambalpur. Until land is acquired, which is priority for now, we aren’t in a position to share more details.

What is XIMB’s faculty strength now and how are you thinking about expanding it?

As of now we are 55 in total. One more is joining in December and another two may join in January 2011. We hire faculty whenever we come across somebody good. For example, one of the faculty joining next is a Cornell University PhD with lots of experience. Another person in the recruitment process has worked in Netherlands and has a PhD from Korea.

What kind of curriculum changes are you going to make in the PGDM and PGDM(RM) courses before the next batch joins?

We have already started a new course on Environment and Sustainability which is mandatory for all the 180 PGDM students. There’s another mandatory course on Emotional quotient and Leadership. Next, we are planning a meeting of all the faculty on the January 12, 2011. Before that meeting, a committee is preparing the background papers by looking at changes in the global and Indian economy. Only after the January 12 meeting will a clear picture emerge about the exact changes.

But speaking in general, we’ve been teaching management that is too bifurcated by specialization in our view. As you know, students choose to go for either marketing or finance or other specializations during the course. We are having a feeling that there should be some integration between these specializations by changing their content and give each course a holistic approach. For example, we know that there is a good market for inkjet printer cartridges. But inkjet cartridge production also generates a large amount of waste and affects the environment. So when we teach either of marketing or production management, we need to also bring awareness of sustainability in and show how both marketing and production are linked. If we can do this, we will not only make better managers but also better human beings. Apart from that, we would like to increase our connection with the bottom of the pyramid. We have a very strong programme in which all 180 PGDM students went and stayed in villages for 3 days. We want to increase their exposure to bottom of the pyramid and to leadership. We would also like to focus on ways to increase mentoring from faculty and senior students.

What are your thoughts on b-schools changing their admission policy to reduce the number of engineers in the batch?

This is something we tried to do last year already. We wanted to bring down the number of engineers and increase the batch diversity by taking in students from other backgrounds. But unfortunately all the students who are getting good grades in XAT were engineers and we could not reduce their number last year. But we’ll continue to give quantitative ability lesser weightage compared to verbal and commnication skills and try to reduce the number of engineers.

Looking at the Indian scenario, I would prefer 60% engineers and 40% non-engineers ideally in the XIMB batches. The job market requirements are still such that the engineering background is preferred so we cant reduce it too much.

We have traditionally seen what an engineer-driven MBA job market looks like. But in your view what scope do non-engineers with an MBA degree have in the market?

Only the product marketing, production and manufacturing companies need people to necessarily have engineering backgrounds. But the remaining type of jobs, that is finance, human resources, some types of marketing and market research, advertising are areas that do not really require engineers.

Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur to get unitary varsity status

Following is a report from the expressbuzz.com:

BERHAMPUR: The State Government has decided to elevate Khallikote Autonomous College here and Gangadhar Meher College at Sambalpur to unitary university status, said Higher Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra here today.

A government appointed task force on higher education reforms had suggested upgrading these two premier autonomous colleges to university status, the Minister said while addressing a function of the Students’ Union of Khallikote College.

Mishra however stressed the need to develop necessary infrastructure facilities before the second oldest college of the State was declared a unitary university.

While at least 50 acre was required, Khallikote Autonomous College had only 16.74 acres of land in its possession.

“There is a proposal to get another 2.50 acres from transport departments garage adjoining the college”, he said.

The Minister asked the local MLAs to locate another 50 acres in the town for the college’s expansion. He also assured the students to fill up the vacant posts soon. Around 50 out of 90 posts of teaching staff are vacant in the 132-yearold college, where over 3,600 students are pursuing studies in 19 different departments, 15 of them having post-graduate departments.

The proposal for a foot bridge from KKC to Junior college is under consideration and funds have been released for renovation of Jhansirani ladies hostel, Swami Vivekananda boys hostel of the college.

Among others, Berhampur MP Sidhant Mohapatra, MLAs EC Choupatnaik, P Panigrahy, BMC Mayor SS Dash and BDA chairman Kailash Rana spoke.

Prioritizing the criteria for location of Innovation University and IIT across India

Following article is from Current Science:

Orissa State Open University bill is criticised by the All India University Employees’ Confederation (AIUEC)

Following is a report from The Telegraph:

Bhubaneswar Sept. 2: Members of the All India University Employees’ Confederation (AIUEC) has raised objections on certain provisions in the proposed Orissa State Open University bill.

The confederation has raised objections to section three of chapter two in the draft bill which says: “With the establishment of this university, the overall control of all the Centres of Distance Education and the correspondence course institutes is deemed to have passed over to the Orissa State Open University subject to a proviso that the parent universities will be given a one-time opportunity to decide the status of their personnel working currently in these centres.

“All parental universities are to submit the final list of such members, who are to continue working in the Orissa State Open University, within a period of three months after the Act comes into existence.”

President of the confederation, Bhabani Shankar Hota, opposed the state government’s move to hand over the control of the centres of distance education, and correspondence course institutes to the proposed open university. Calling it an intentional step by the state government that would lead to the untimely death of existing major Universities Hota, demanded its immediate withdrawal.

“The five important universities — Utkal, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Fakir Mohan and North Orissa University — are going to suffer,” said former MP Hota.

He also urged intellectuals, students and educationists to decry the provision in the Bill. He asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to scrap the objectionable provisions of the bill.

“There is nothing wrong if the state government establishes more than one open university in the state. However, the provisions to hand over the control of distance education and correspondence courses to the proposed university should be deleted,” the AIUEC president said.

The department of higher education had earlier issued a notice inviting “public opinion” on the issue.

CM urged to set up varsity in Kalahandi: The Pioneer

Following is from The Pioneer:

People of Kalahandi are grateful to the Naveen Patnaik Government for having granted establishment of two professional institutions for the first time. Retired professor of Sambalpur University Gopabandhu Behera, in his letter to the Chief Minister, has lauded his initiative to set up institutions in this backward part of the State.

Never before had the Government started any institution of higher education of its own, said Prof Behera. People of Kalahandi have set up all institutions on their own despite their hand-to-mouth financial conditions. This shows people’s participation was always there.

However, the people are not able to establish institutions like university and management institutes. Prof Behera reminds that leading persons of Kalahandi had moved for establishment of a central university in the district. But the Chief Minister was good enough to point out that since he had already committed to Koraput district for establishment of this university he would sanction other institutions for Kalahandi.

The Task Force on Higher Education has recommended establishment of a South Western Odisha (SWO) University at the Kalahandi district headquarters town of Bhawanipatna.

Prof Behera says that if one examines objectively, he will find that Bhawanipatna is another centre like Bhubaneswar waiting for development. The recommendation of the Task Force can be implemented phase-wise. Hence, establishment of a university at Bhawanipatna has to be undertaken in the first phase. If a suitable Officer on Special Duty (OSD) is appointed, the university can flourish, observes Prof Behera.

Prof Digambara Patra, a leading non-resident Odia (NRO) has also all along been batting for this university in Bhawanipatna.

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MP demands IIM at Sambalpur, Orissa

Following report is from The Samaj:

State universities of India need to have greater freedom: Kapil Sibal

Following is a report from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com:

How will innovation universities change higher education?

We have not adopted a top-down approach, ours is a bottom-up one. So far we have spoken of inclusive agenda of development, we are now thinking in terms of an inclusive education agenda. The idea is to empower institutions at the base of the pyramid. State universities are the foundation of higher education segment. State universities need to have greater freedom so confirm to realities of 21st century. The Centre is willing to give a helping hand.

Is that all required to improve institutions?

There is proposal to help state universities, which make up bulk of higher education segment. The Centre can help by giving more funds to strengthen these universities. This would help build infrastructure and quality. But state governments need to step up and provide policy framework. This framework will give universities more freedom. UGC can make grants beyond what it already does. But state governments must allow for more freedom so that state universities can transform themselves.

Are state only expected to provide for a more liberal policy framework?

Over the years, the Centre’s share of expenditure in public education has increased, while states’ share has come down. This mismatch should be corrected.

Many institutions suggest quality can be improved with freedom in admissions policy…

There should be democracy. An institution should have the right to decide on what basis it wants to admit students. At the same time there should not be unnecessary pressure on students. So some institutes can decide to admit on the basis of Class XII results — on the basis of merit. While other institutes could admit on the basis of the national aptitude test, or look at the aptitude test as an add on. There is also the option of add on subject tests. So the class XII results determine subject knowledge, aptitude tests will assess raw intelligence, and add on tests will assess special knowledge.

So each institute can determine the basis on which they admit, rather than doing so through individual entrance tests. The idea is to reduce tests, while still giving each institute the freedom to admit students that fit in with the specific focus of the institute. Let me give an example, what is the difference between Yale and Harvard law Schools. Yale is focused on research while Harvard is more business minded, so corporate law is a focus. So in their admissions policy they would show a preference for those who fit in to their respective focus areas.

Will this make the education system more inclusive?

Right now we have entrance exams to exclude students, to keep some people out. I want to reduce stress for students, but also exclude exclusion. If we were a more mature system, I would say that interviews would be the final basis of deciding who gets admitted and who doesn’t. But we are not mature enough. Allowing for discretion would not help. So I want to put in place a system that doesn’t give space for discretion.

Why Orissa as a state can’t develop?; A report from merinews

Following report is taken from merinews:

The Government of India’s National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in a report has released the well-being index of India. The same tell about the quality of life in India. This report has mentioned that six districts of Orissa being in the list of worst twenty districts of India. Rayagada district ranks the worst in India followed by Kandhamal, Nuapada, Bolangir, Koraput and Bargarh, all in Western and Southern part of the state, are ranked at 4,9,10 & 19 from the bottom respectively.

It has been many years since the Government. of India has been pumping thousands of Crores as special budget for the welfare of these districts of Western and Southern Orissa through scheme like KBK. Then how is it that after so many years of huge money inflow into these districts there is no change in statistics? Who is accountable for this mishap? Is the Chief functionary of the state not responsible for this?”

Orissa, one of the poorest of states in the Indian union, is inhabited by more than 24% of tribal population concentrated mostly in North-Western, Western and Southern part of the state. Due to the negligence of all successive state governments, the development of these three patches are far behind the Coastal Orissa tract by any parameter even though these regions are full of minerals and natural resources.

In two occasions, during 1936 and 1948, these tribal dominated Western and Southern regions amalgamated into then Orissa division (precisely the present Coastal Orissa) from erstwhile Central and Madras presidency of British ruled India respectively to form Orissa state in the line of linguistic similarities. But, reality is, till now the native people residing in these regions don’t know how to speak the state official language Odiya, which is practiced in Coastal Orissa districts in particular. Vast region of Western Orissa communicate in variants of Sambalpuri language (also termed as Kosli by some) and with numerous tribal languages practiced by the indigenous tribal population. This leads to poor enrolment in school which encourages Odiya as the medium of education and thus a high school dropout rate is seen in these regions. Students are forced to learn Odiya language in school which is different than what they practice in day to day life.

The differentiation between the then Orissa Division (Coastal Orissa) and the newly added Western and Southern regions is well maintained by all successive state Governments, while allocating funds and in developmental works.

Inhabited by app.50% of the state population (17,899,735 as per 2001 Census) and spread in 28.73% of total land of the state (44,355.4 Sq Km), this Coastal Orissa tract is given utmost priority by all the successive state governments and have been enjoying all sorts of developmental works in the name of Orissa. Where as a vast land with more than 71.27% of the total land area of Orissa state (109,992 Sq Km), and with a population of little above half of the state population is depriving basic needs.

It is pity that present state government too, has done nothing to minimize the gap between the coastal and the rest of Orissa in its decade long rule; but increasing it by concentrating every developmental activity in and around the state capital Bhubaneswar. During this government’s tenure, all the national institutes for higher studies and research sanctioned by the central government are established or proposed to establish in and around Bhubaneswar. Due to this capital centric attitude, common masses refer the Chief Minister Nabin Pattnaik as the Mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation than the CM of the state.

In recent development except for the Central University, all the educational and research institutes of national repute, such as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), etc awarded by Central Government for the entire state are located in and around Bhubaneswar. This has brought a distinction for Bhubaneswar as the only city in India to have an IIT, AIIMS and NISER at one location.

Central Government has also proposed to establish a National Innovative University (World Class), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), ESI Medical College and Hospital, Railway Medical College in Bhubaneswar, and another IIIT in Berhampur in Coastl Orissa, neglecting the rest state.
Existing and proposed Central funded National Institutes and Universities in Orissa:

Rest Orissa Coastal Orissa
1. NIT, Rourkela, Dist. Sundargarh 1. IIT, Bhubaneswar
2. Central University, Koraput 2. IIT – Kharagpur, Bhubaneswar Branch
3. Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, (IIHT), Bargarh 3. National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubanneswar
4. Food Craft Institute, Balangir 4. AIIMS like Institute, Bhubaneswar
5. IIIT, Bhubaneswar
6. National University, Bhubaneswar (proposed)
7. IIIT, Berhampur (Work on progess)
8. Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM), Bubaneswar
9. Institute of Minerals and Material Technology, Bhubaneswar
10. Indian Institute of Mass Communications,(IIMC), Dhenkanal
11. Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
12. Biju Pattanaik National Steel Institute (BPNSI), Puri
13. Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Bhubaneswar
14. Eastern Regional Language Centre for CILL, Bhubaneswar
15. Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar
16. Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
17. Regional Medical Research Centre, (RMRC), Bhubaneswar
18. Central Fisheries Institute, Kousalyaganga, Bhubaneswar
19. Regional Research Laboratory,Bhubaneswar
20. National Research Centre for Women in Agriculture (NRCWA), Bhubaneswar
21. Ocean Science and Technology Cell (OSTC), Berhampur
22. National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (NIRTAR), Cuttack
23. National Institute of Design (NID), Bhubaneswar (Proposed)
24. NIFT, Bhubaneswar (Proposed)

If you consider the allotment of health facilities in the state the picture of disparities done towards the rest of the tribal regions of the state gets crystal clear. There is just one state run Medical College, viz, VSS Medical College & Hospital, Burla in Sambalpur for the entire Western Orissa, there are state run SCB Medical college in twin cities of Bhubaneswar – Cuttack , MKCG Medical College in Berhampur, a city just 179 Km from Bhubaneswar by Road and 165 Km by train.

Mahandi Coal Field Ltd. (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, a Central Government entity which has operation in Western as well as Central Orissa, is too establishing a Medical College Hospital in Talcher Town, 150 Km from state Capital Bhubaneswar, with state government’s active persuasion. The defense dept has proposed to set up a medical college in Baleswar, another town in Coastal Orissa with a distance of 198 Km by Road from Bhubaneswar.

State government has recently proposed to upgrade Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar to a Medical College with a hoping budget of 32.5 Crores. It is also been proposed to set up Government. Medical College & Hospital in Baleswar where as the state government is trying to establish 3 Private Medical Colleges in backward tribal dominated Western Orissa in PPP mode since last 15 years through Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) with a financial grant of 5 Crores each. There is no progress seen in establishing these Medical colleges in these backward regions of Orissa.

So, a question instantly arises in mind, “Why private Medical College & Hospital for poor tribal region of Western Orissa, who can’t afford a full meal a day and central and state funded Government. Medical Colleges & Hospitals for Coastal Orissa?” Is this not pure discrimination?
Central and State sponsored Medical Institutions in Orissa

Rest Orissa Coastal Orissa
1. VSS Medical College, Burla, Sambalpur 1. SCB Medical college, Cuttack
2. Medical College under Central University, Koraput 2. SCB Dental College, Cuttack
3. MKCG Medical College, Berhampur
4. Capital Medical College, Bhubaneswar
5. AIIMS, Bhubaneswar (Proposed)
6.ESI Medical College and Hospital, Bhubaneswar (Proposed)
7. Medical College under National Innovative University, Bhubaneswar (Proposed)
8. ECO Railway Medical College, Bhubaneswar (Proposed)
9. Medical College by MCL, Talcher, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd
10. Medical College, Balasore (Proposed by State Government.)
11. Medical College, Balasore (proposed by Defence dept)

Points to notice that Balangir, Kalahandi, in this back ward Western Orissa, many times have created news in national media for starvation deaths. Low-income people in these backward districts can hardly afford the cost of good health care even for their children who suffer from early death, under nutrition and anemia. As against the State figure of 65 infant deaths per 1000 life births, district like Kalahandi in the Western Orissa had 119 infant deaths.

Prevalence of undernourishment among children is also high in these tribal dominating districts. The health situation is really gloomy if we look at maternal death rates. Women in these households work hard at home, in the fields, bear children and do not get the medical attention while giving birth to children.

Occurrence of malaria remains a threat to the people in the tribal areas. As many as 158 blocks in tribal districts, which contribute 70 per cent of the malarial cases, suffer the worst. Sometimes outbreak of mysterious diseases in these regions takes a heavy toll of life. Poverty and deprivation leave very little money with people to spend on the treatment of diseases and illness.

The state government is earning maximum revenue from these under developed tribal belts through mining and industries. When the industries are exploiting and polluting the region, are opening health care units and educational facilities in Coastal Orissa with state government’s active persuasion. The recent Vedanta group promoted World Class University in Puri- Konark Road with a budget of 15,000 Cr and in an area of 6,000 Acre sets the perfect example. Vedanta Industries Ltd has established two Aluminum plants in Western Orissa, the refinery unit and captive power plant at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi District and smelter plant with captive power plant at Jharsuguda, where as it is opening its 100 bed capacity burn and trauma care unit in Bhubaneswar, which i

s at a distance of 400 Km from Jharsuguda and more than 450 Km from Lanjigarh.

Hundreds of crores rupees received from central government in the name of KBK has become a source of exploitation for the state government. The head quarter of the KBK scheme is at the state capital Bhubaneswar, far away from the problems people are facing in their every day life. This century of exploitation by all successive state government since the formation of the state in 1936, towards these tribal pockets has forced them to shout for a separate state of Kosal comprising 11 districts and a sub-division of Western Orissa. Also, the Maoist guerillas are spreading in rest tribal districts in rapid speed taking advantage of this.

These entire exploitation stories remind the colonial era and raise some fundamental questions about democratic rights in India.

IT consortium’s proposal to set up a skill university in Orissa

Following is a report from expressbuzz.com:

BHUBANESWAR: A Consortium of information technology (IT) companies has proposed to launch a training programme for plus-two students of the State to increase their employability. 

The consortium members, led by Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of the CII’s national committee on IT, discussed the proposal with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Friday. The consortium companies include IT companies, GTT, Merytrack, Genpack, Corporate Gurukul and Cisco Tech Limited.  

Orissa will be the ninth State where the consortium has launched the programme. The consortium plans to train 12,000 plus-two students in the State in three phases. In the first phase, 2,000 students will train followed by 5,000 each in the next two phases. The programme includes talent assessment, counselling of the students, training, examination, certification, internship and placement.

 The training will be for a period of six months. Official sources said that communication skills and computer knowledge of the students will be increased through the programme. The consortium also submitted a proposal for setting up a skills university in Orissa. The university, land for which is yet to be located, will start functioning from 2012.  

The university will help formalise the training programme on a permanent basis. Besides the Chief Minister, senior officials from the Chief Minister’s secretariat and IT department were present.