Bhubaneswar: In an attempt to improve the quality of higher education in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given his stamp of approval to the Higher Education department’s proposal to accord affiliating university status to Rajendra Unitary University, Bolangir and Kalahandi Unitary University.
Earlier, the Chief Minister March 6, 2019 had declared the Government Autonomous College, Bhawanipatna (GACB) a ‘Unitary University’ during his visit to Kalahandi. Similarly, March 2, 2019 the state government had accorded university status to Rajendra Autonomous College.
Now both the unitary universities will function as affiliating universities.
After the decision, around 75 colleges of Bolangir and Subarnapur districts will come under Bolangir University, while around 50 colleges of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts will come under Kalahandi University.
Earlier, these colleges were coming under Sambalpur University. The decision is expected to improve the work procedure in these colleges and universities.
Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo said, “Now the students and their parents don’t have to travel too long to get their problems solved.”
Rajendra Autonomous College was established in1944 while the GACB was founded in 1960.
The Indian universities are basically of two types – unitary and affiliating.
The unitary universities are confined to a single campus and offer both postgraduate and undergraduate courses, and also have a strong emphasis on research.
Affiliating universities are the most common type of universities seen in India. These universities generally have a central campus which has departments or schools that impart postgraduate courses and conduct research. They also have a variable number of colleges affiliated to them and these may be distributed over a number of districts, in accordance with the jurisdiction of the university.
