The academic fraternity and the intellectual public are now in a dilemma pertaining to the status of one of the prestigious and oldest institutions of higher learning of south Odisha, the Khallikote Autonomous College. It has been alleged that the State Higher Education Department is playing hide-and-sick with the college’s fate for the reasons best known to it.
The students of the Khallikote Cluster University held agitation by locking its main gate on Thursday last over confusion on the status of the institution.
They alleged that since it is yet to be made clear if the institution is an autonomous college or a cluster university, their future is uncertain.
They said that while a batch of students has been issued ID card of the institution as a college, another batch is shown in their ID card as students of a cluster university. They protested the discriminatory attitude of the authorities and demanded that the status of the institution be clarified.
Later, Brahmapur ASP Santunu Kumar Das with force rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators in presence of University Registrar Prof Radhanath Rath. When the Registrar assured the students of taking appropriate steps, the stir was withdrawn.
However, Students’ Union president Pravat Karji warned that if their demands are not met and the status was not clarified within a fortnight, they would intensify the agitation.
Due to student’s unrest, +3 Arts and 5th Semester examinations were postponed in the institution, sources said.
Notably, following the decision of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to create 35 new cluster universities across the country by pooling resources of three to five existing Government and Government-aided colleges under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) programme, the Khallikote Cluster University was created among the 35 projects in the country in 2015-16.
The term ‘Cluster University’ denotes that one major institute of higher learning will lead three to five institutions (usually colleges or so) in its vicinity. The cluster university concept, therefore, envisages a lead college with a maximum of five colleges tagged to it. When the idea of a cluster university in India was mooted by the Union Ministry of HRD, the Government’s move then was considered significant as it is mandatory for a college to get accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) if it is to get funds from RUSA.
Keeping the public perception in mind and to ease the burden of the Berhampur University, the Khallikote Autonomous College was then upgraded to the status of a university to enable it get more funds under the RUSA. Accordingly, the college became the first cluster university in the State.
However, the institution is currently reeling under resource and manpower crunch. Under the scheme, the four colleges earlier affiliated to Berhampur University, namely, Chatrapur Science College, Sashibhusan Rath Government Women’s College, Binayak Acharya College and Gopalpur College were turned into a cluster and granted autonomy to share their infrastructure and teaching faculty and were permitted to function like an university from the academic session 2015-16. These four colleges became the constituent colleges of the newly created cluster university with an assurance of initial fund of Rs 55 crore. Besides, it was also given 20 acres of additional patch of land at Palur Hill.
According to information, now the students of the institution are under mental stress triggering unrest in the campus. The students consider their future in the cluster university uncertain. The students and faculty are reportedly confused pertaining to the exact status and are unable decide whether it is still a PG autonomous college or a cluster university?
The confusion is further fuelled by two conflicting notices of the State Government where by one notice specifies it to be a cluster university, and the other a college.