Majhi cabinet nod to Odisha Universities Act

BHUBANESWAR : The Odisha Government will now give autonomy to public universities to select their vice-chancellors. For this, the state cabinet on Saturday approved the proposal to amend the Odisha Universities Act, 1989. Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja said the amendment aims to address critical challenges faced by universities while enhancing the overall academic excellence, governance and administrative efficacy of the universities.

Speaking about the amendments, he said the focus is on improving the recruitment process, empowering universities with more autonomy and allowing them to make decisions independently while maintaining accountability. They have to involve academic professionals in the decision-making process, reintroduction of the senate and formation of building and works committee, and finance committee, among other things.

By amending the act, the state government plans to streamline the recruitment process which had been stopped since 2020 when the Supreme Court stayed the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020, that was approved during the tenure of the previous BJD government.