Sonepur: Sonepur College in Subarnapur district is old, but it is certainly not gold, not in the eyes of the powers that be at least as it languishes under the weight of a myriad problems.
It is actually the oldest college in the district, having been established in 1964, but is yet to get the government status.
Over the years, its performance has improved and it has been enjoying a lot of goodwill for the last few years. Parents as well as students give top priority to this institution over others. Over 1400 students are enrolled in Arts, Commerce and Science streams in Plus II and Plus III.
Yet, the institution has not been given government status despite the demand being raised for it on many occasions; the district remains neglected in higher education even after 25 years of its formation.
Besides the government tag, the institution lags behind in terms of infrastructure; shortage of lecturers and staff is another problem seriously affecting the education being imparted here.
Senior citizens, students and locals have expressed their concern over the way the oldest educational institution has constantly been neglected.
If the information collected from the institution sources are anything to go by, the principal’s post is lying vacant since January 1, 2012. A principal in-charge has since been managing the principal’s job.
Each of Economics, History, Education, Odia and Botany subjects has a lecturer post lying vacant for the last couple of years. Due to lack of lecturers in honours subjects, education has already taken a back seat here. It is the block grant teachers that are somewhat managing the scene.
As per the guideline of the state government, in case of transfer of a lecturer from a college in KBK district, until and unless a reliever takes his place, the transferred lecturer cannot be released.
But the guideline has been thrown out of the window here, it is alleged.
Similarly, over 12 non- teaching staff posts have been lying vacant since long. And the girl students too are facing problems. Though hundreds of girls study in the college, it does not have a woman assistant, which is a pre-requisite.
The posts of gardener and storekeeper are also lying vacant.
On the infrastructure front, the institution does not have the required number of classrooms. There is also shortage of toilets for the teaching, non-teaching staff and students. Students studying Science are also facing problems as their section has neither a laboratory nor necessary equipment, let alone quarters for lecturers and staff.
When asked, principal in-charge Kedarnath Mishra came up with a response that has become clichéd—“the government has been intimated about the staff shortage problem”.
