Need for a 2nd Tech Varsity in Orissa at Berhampur

By Abhisek Mishra

Over the last decade the number of engineering, medical and other professional education institutions has seen phenomenal growth with rapid urbanization and industrialization in Orissa. While more than 100 colleges under a General University is considered unmanageable, the state has more than 100 engineering and technical institutions under the BPUT, Rourkela. This calls for a second Technological University at Berhampur in the southern region of the State. The State of Andhra Pradesh has got two campuses of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) at Hyderabad and Kakinada. Orissa could follow the same pattern and have two campuses of the Technological University at Rourkela and Berhampur for better supervision and regulation of technical education in the state. The Berhampur campus will bridge the absence of a professional university in south Orissa and this will lead to development of technical education in the state as a whole. The fact that Berhampur city still doesn’t have a centrally funded higher education institute and the proposed IIIT being planned under PPP, a second campus of BPUT at Berhampur need to be considered. The present campus of BPUT at Rourkela is around 500-600 kms from the district headquarters in southern region of orissa. Further, there is no direct railway link and neither is there a proper highway. Under these circumstances a campus of the Technology University is justified at Berhampur. By now around 20 engineering colleges have come up in south Orissa itself and there are more than 30 Institutes for courses like Management, MCA, Pharmacy and Diploma. So, bringing all these Institutes under a Technological University will greatly help in the proliferation of Technical education in the southern part of Orissa.