Licensed surveyor course in the offing

BHUBANESWAR:  In a bid to enhance employability of youths ‘skilled in Odisha’, the State Government has decided to incorporate licensed surveyor course modules in polytechnic and engineering colleges. This was decided at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the Secretariat here on Saturday. Padhi directed to start the course in polytechnic and engineering colleges from 2019-20 academic session. It was further decided to start a short term modular course in the Government Polytechnic College, Bhubaneswar by the end of January. 

Emphasising on the need of skill and technical education, Padhi directed the department concerned to make the skill courses aspirational for the youth and provide the scope for seamless entry and exit with general education. It was decided to bring out necessary changes in the existing norms for making two streams of education seamless and coterminous with each other.

Secretary of Skill Development and Technical Education Sanjay Kumar Singh said there was a need for modern licensed surveyors in the works like settlement of land disputes, land demarcation, forest development, industrialisation, developmental and infrastructural laying projects. The modular course would include the survey methods in the electronic total station and DGPS techniques.

“Blue print of the modular course has already been designed. It would only be fine-tuned with the requirements of practical field-based training,” Singh said.The course would be of three months duration. Twenty students each from diploma in civil engineering and BSc engineering would be taken in the first batch. It will run on self-financing mode. 

Each student would have to pay `8000 as the course fee. The course would be made a part of the polytechnic and engineering course in the last two semesters with internship arrangements during the vacations. 

Singh said necessary technical equipment and logistics would be put in place before starting the course. 
Principal Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Nikunja Bihari Dhal, Chief Executive Officer of ORSAC Prafulla Kumar Mallick, Director Technical Education and Training Balwant Singh and senior officers from departments concerned participated in the deliberations.