It is absolutely disheartening to see in newspaper reports and occasionally on TV that some local villagers are opposing the Vedanta University near Puri. It is as clear as daylight that these villagers are being misled by political vested interests. But it is odd to see that the Government is not doing enough to dispel the villagers’ doubts and separate facts from fiction. This is more so, when the same Governme
nt has done the needful to get the private Universities Bill passed in the Orissa legislative Assembly. Given the dismal state of higher education in our country and more so in our state Orissa, there is an urgent need for Universities to come up on private initiatives. Private initiative does not of course necessarily spell quality education. But at least from the perspective of investment, such an initiative is more than welcome, because, the government does not have the means for sure. It is good that after years of demands from different quarters, a Central University is coming up at a backward area like Koraput, an IIT has started functioning at Bhubaneswar and an AIIMS is in the offing. Still, considering progressive democratisation, the information/communication revolution and the rising aspiration level, there is no denying the fact that more such institutions of higher learning are needed. Therefore, Universities like Sri Sri Ravisankar University, Vedanta University and ICFAI University, etc. should be encouraged in our state. Recently, the issue of ranking of world Universities was discussed by a noted columnist in an Oriya daily. It is quite shocking that only two of our hallowed IITs manage to find mention in the London Times’ list of top 200 Universities, where as six Chinese Universities are there. In the same list, when none of the Indian Universities finds a place amongst the top 100, two Chinese Universities do! Given the traditional Sino-Indian rivalry, this is demeaning, to say the least. In this context, one does nourish high hopes as far as Vedanta University is concerned. In their website, they talk of world class higher education, cutting-edge research, multidisciplinary approach, Nobel laureates as faculty, fully residential system, etc, contributing to a ‘thriving eco-system of knowledge’. It is going to be a mega University with facilities for 100,000 students in as many as 95 academic disciplines. If they can translate the vision into reality and implement the plan, they can really revolutionise higher education n Orissa and the country as a whole. Such a novel scheme of things needs trust and support. People are normally sceptical about anything new and novel. But informed opinion can surely put things in perspective.
For further details visit as : http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=14012
nt has done the needful to get the private Universities Bill passed in the Orissa legislative Assembly. Given the dismal state of higher education in our country and more so in our state Orissa, there is an urgent need for Universities to come up on private initiatives. Private initiative does not of course necessarily spell quality education. But at least from the perspective of investment, such an initiative is more than welcome, because, the government does not have the means for sure. It is good that after years of demands from different quarters, a Central University is coming up at a backward area like Koraput, an IIT has started functioning at Bhubaneswar and an AIIMS is in the offing. Still, considering progressive democratisation, the information/communication revolution and the rising aspiration level, there is no denying the fact that more such institutions of higher learning are needed. Therefore, Universities like Sri Sri Ravisankar University, Vedanta University and ICFAI University, etc. should be encouraged in our state. Recently, the issue of ranking of world Universities was discussed by a noted columnist in an Oriya daily. It is quite shocking that only two of our hallowed IITs manage to find mention in the London Times’ list of top 200 Universities, where as six Chinese Universities are there. In the same list, when none of the Indian Universities finds a place amongst the top 100, two Chinese Universities do! Given the traditional Sino-Indian rivalry, this is demeaning, to say the least. In this context, one does nourish high hopes as far as Vedanta University is concerned. In their website, they talk of world class higher education, cutting-edge research, multidisciplinary approach, Nobel laureates as faculty, fully residential system, etc, contributing to a ‘thriving eco-system of knowledge’. It is going to be a mega University with facilities for 100,000 students in as many as 95 academic disciplines. If they can translate the vision into reality and implement the plan, they can really revolutionise higher education n Orissa and the country as a whole. Such a novel scheme of things needs trust and support. People are normally sceptical about anything new and novel. But informed opinion can surely put things in perspective.For further details visit as : http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=14012
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