Minister: Odisha government will amend the University Act

Odisha: The government has decided to bring amendments to the Odisha University (Amendment) Act 2020 brought by the previous BJD government, Higher Education Minister Suryavanshi Suraj told the state assembly on Friday. Replying to a question by BJD MLA Ganeshwar Behera, the minister said, “As you are demanding amendments in the Act enacted by the BJD government, we will definitely do so.” Suraj said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written a letter to the Odisha government in this regard. On the appointment of vice-chancellors in public universities at Jaipur and Baripada, the minister said the institutions are functioning under the supervision of officers on special duty. He said once the Odisha University Act is amended, the issues of appointment of vice-chancellors as well as teaching and non-teaching staff will be resolved. The previous BJD government had enacted the Odisha University (Amendment) Act, making several sweeping amendments to the original Act of 1989. The minister said the provisions contained in the current Act regarding the selection of vice-chancellors and recruitment of teaching staff in universities are different from the UGC regulations. Besides, intellectuals and several MLAs have also raised questions over the nomination of the representative of the higher education secretary in the universities’ syndicate and claimed that it reduces the autonomy of government universities, he said. Out of the 30 districts in Odisha, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts have no government degree colleges. Commenting on the issue, Suraj said, “I assure you all that we will establish colleges in these districts, which the previous BJD government could not do during its 25-year rule.”