Memorandum Submitted
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MMMeeemmmooorrraaannnddduuummm SSSuuubbbmmmiiitttttteeeddd tttooo TTThhheee HHHooonnn’’’bbbllleee CCChhhiiieeefff MMMiiinnniiisssttteeerrr,,, OOOdddiiissshhhaaa by Members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from KENDUJHAR on 6th April,2011 To The Hon’ble Chief Minister, Odisha, Bhubaneswar. Sub:- Establishment of a University in Kendujhar . Reverend Sir, It is our privilege that we have the opportunity to work under your dynamic leadership for the cause of the people we represent. We are aware of the ambitious programme our Government have chalked out for revamping education sector in the state. Thanks to your progressive vision of making Odisha a knowledge hub. Higher education had never received so much attention as it is enjoying now. In the context of such renewed efforts, we, on behalf of the people of Kendujhar submit this memorandum for kind and favourable consideration. As a sequel to the integration of the feudatory states with Odisha, the erstwhile princely state of Kendujhar merged with it on 1st January, 1948 with headquarters at Kendujhar garh. The district lies in the northern part of state. It is bounded on the north by the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, on the east by the districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak, on the south by the districts of Jajpur and Dhenkanal, on the west by the districts of Angul and Sundargarh. 1 As per 2001 Census, the district is inhabited by 15.62lakh people out of which tribals constitute 44.50 % and Schedules Castes constitute 11.62%. Kendujhar is the 3rd largest district of the state in terms of tribal population. The district is lagging behind its neighboring districts in the area of higher education. At the time of independence, the district had no institution dedicated to higher education. In 1957, almost a decade after the independence, an Intermediate Science College viz. Keonjhar Science College was established by the noble efforts of the then elite mass of the district. Until then the state administration had hardly cared for establishment of any institution for higher education. A great soul of the district namely Md. Seeraj-ud-din had donated for erection of the main College building over 10,000 Sq. ft. along with all necessary infrastructure which we see now. Neither did the state Government nor the district administration had any contribution to the establishment of the said institution. It was then affiliated to the Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. In 1962 the College was taken over by the state Government. Later it was upgraded to a full fledged Degree College and renamed as Keonjhar College, Keonjhar. Since then the same Degree College renamed as Dharani Dhar (Auto.) College, Kendujhar has been imparting higher education under the University of North Odisha, Baripada. A list of colleges operating in different parts of the district is annexed herewith for your kind reference. 2 In terms of age, standing, academic performance, location as well as infrastructure, the Dharani Dhar (Auto.) College, Keonjhar occupies a unique position among the premier educational institutions of the state. Statistics given below would make things clear: Academic Infrastructure +2 streams Arts -192 seats Science – 256 seats Commerce– 96 seats +3 streams Arts – 128 seats Hons. subjects – English, Economics, Pol. Science, History. Sanskrit, Philosophy, Odia Anthropology. Science – 160 seats Hons. subjects – Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Geology, Zoology, Botany, Computer Science Commerce–128 seats Honours facility available P. G. Courses Pol.Science, Commerce, Chemistry, Geology I G N O U study Centre Operating since 1993 3 Physical Infrastructure Building Sprawling mansions with individual blocks for Arts, Science and Commerce, Gallery, separate Auditorium, well furnished laboratories etc Area 40 Ha. Hostels 6 nos (3 for Boys & 3 316 seats for boys for Women) 120 seats for women N S S /N.C.C. / Red Cross Operating Library Excellent library An air-conditioned library with an investment of over 1 crore rupees is coming up. Playground Excellent play ground with well fortified boundary Thin representation of students of this area in Universities or other institutions dedicated to higher education may have something to do with the distance of those centres from Kendujhar and the unaffordable cost of living in those cities/ urban centres where these institutions are situated. It is unfortunate that the distribution of centres of higher learning in our state have been uneven and lopsided with the result that while some areas have disproportionate concentration of such centres, vast areas in the state have hardly been as fortunate. Establishment of such institutions in the state have all along been based not so much on objective evaluation of the need, suitability, 4 and desirability in terms of relevant criteria like area, connectivity, distance, population, state of backwardness etc. as on considerations which are arbitrary, biased, parochial and prompted by political reasons. Rejection of Kendujhar’s claim for a University in the not too distant past is a classic example of how legitimate claims are buried on flimsy grounds. Only recently, as late as in late 90s, when a proposal for establishment of a University somewhere in the northern region of state comprising of Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj and undivided Balasore districts was doing the rounds during the Congress regime ( i.e 1995-2000) people of Keonjhar pleaded for establishment of the University in their district with convincing justification. Government constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Shri Justice S.K.Mohanty for identification of a suitable location for the proposed University. The Committee however recommended to establish the University at Baripada . Balasore was not considered suitable on a number of counts e.g. non-centrality of the location, non-availability of adequate and litigation free suitable land etc. Besides, by virtue of it being situated on NH-5 and only 55kms away from Baripada, Balasore enjoys quality road and rail link with number of buses plying daily between Balasore and Baripada. The reasons adduced for turning down the claim of Kendujhar were that the district had least number of colleges and at 200Km away from Balasore. But the Government, instead of making a dispassionate evaluation of the comparative realities of different regions, allowed itself to be swayed by 5 considerations entirely unrelated to foundation of a Universitylike institution. It is based on deliberate suppression / misrepresentation of facts. Crucial factors like distance from Utkal University, underdevelopment of the district, tribal concentration, poverty, hilly area and the educational backwardness were conveniently forgotten. In the run-up while Balasore and Mayurbhanj got one University each, the claim of Kendujhar was turned down on flimsy grounds. The inference is loud and clear. Nothing but political considerations were at work behind such decision at Government. How else could it be explained that Kendujhar, in spite of having compelling justification was conveniently forgotten while Balasore despite all its inadequacies and proximity to Baripada has been blessed with one University? That too overreaching the findings and recommendations of the the S.K. Mohanty Committee. How could a Government committed to upliftment of the poor and the disadvantaged could renege on its own commitment? If there was a decision to open a second University in the region, what was the rationale behind choosing Balasore over Kendujhar as the site for the second University? After all, if at all distance and necessity were the criteria, Balasore situated within a negligible distance of only 55 kms from Baripada could never have taken precedence over Kendujhar situated 154 kms away from Baripada and most importantly have 385 acres of encumbrance free land. Questions like these continue to haunt the collective psyche of Kendujhar. 6 People across the district are yet to reconcile to the developments. Their feeling is that if distance and necessity were the criteria, as recommended by the Hon’ble Justice S.K Mohanty Committee, for setting up of the proposed University, one University preferably at a place evenly distanced from both Baripada and Balasore could have satisfied the requirement of both the districts. And the second university that the Govt. established beyond the proposal could have been gifted to the students of Kendujhar. In that case, it would also have catered to the need of students of undivided Dhenkanal. But it was not done. Like in several other cases Kendujhar was again denied its legitimate right. It is regrettable and painful. Even though Kendujhar’s aspirations for a University still remains unfulfilled, its people increasingly feel restive over the issue of having one such institution in their locality. The groundswell of discontentment has worsened in recent years especially after Government turned a deaf ear to the claim of Kendujhar for establishment of a University in the district. We cannot undo our past. But, we have every conceivable reason to believe that even today our case for establishment of a University in Kendujhar has all the justification it had when we put forth our claim in late 90s. 7 Our Government under your enlightened leadership is committed to removing regional imbalance through policies directed at increasing investment in social and economic sectors in needy and less privileged areas. It is heartening that Government has already prepared a road map for boosting higher education by establishing as many as 16 Universities across the state. In the context of this drive, we would like to seize this opportunity to reiterate our claim to establish a new University in Kendujhar or at least to elevate the existing Dharani Dhar (Autonomous) College to an autonomous University. We, the following Members of the Orissa Legislative Assembly representing Kendujhar fervently hope our prayer will have all the sympathy it deserves. With regards Sincerely yours (Bhagirathi Sethy) (Hrusikesh Naik) M.L.A., Anandapur M.L.A., Patana ( Er. Premananda Nayak) (Jitu Patnaik) (Er. Subarna Naik) M.L.A., Telkoi M.L.A., Champua M.L.A., Kendujhar Copy to :- • The Hon’ble Minister, Higher Education, Govt.