Dharmendra Pradhan Seeks Central University Status to Utkal University

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today wrote to his cabinet colleague and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ seeking the status of a central university to the Odisha’s Utkal University.

Pradhan said that there has been a long-standing demand from members of the academic fraternity of Odisha for granting central university status to Utkal University.

Compared to neighbouring States like Bihar, which has lour Central Universities and Andhra Pradesh, which has three Central Universities, Odisha only has one Central University, i.e. Central University of Odisha, Koraput which is primarily catering to the needs of students in southern part of the Stale.

“There is an acute necessity for setting up a second central university in the State, especially around Bhubaneswar”, he said.

Bhubaneswar is set to become an economic and education hub in eastern India and classifying Utkal University as central university would not only cater to the needs of students from coastal and eastern Odisha, but also create tremendous potential for employment generation, industry-academia interface and advanced research in the region, he added.