Berhampur University to work on model villages

Berhampur University (BU) has decided to create 10 model villages in different districts of southern Odisha.

Varsity sources said volunteers of National Service Scheme (NSS) will work for all-round development of Laxmipur and Dharampur (Ganjam district), B Sitapur and Kharidhepa (Gajapati district), Banamaliput and Old Simaneda (Koraput district), Antarigada (Rayagada), Paburia (Kandhamal), Gandiguda (Malkanagiri) and Jatiguda (Nabarangapur) in collaboration with the local administration.

"National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, an autonomous body under ministry of rural development, would extend necessary assistance to NSS for creating awareness on sanitation, health, plantation, literacy, water conservation and plantation," BU vice-chancellor Deepak Kumar Patnaik said after attending the university-level NSS advisory committee meeting on Friday.

The university had signed an MoU with the institute in August last year for collaborative research in the field of rural development, he added.

NSS coordinator P K Swain said the university has 225 NSS units with 11,250 volunteers. "The units have adopted one village each in their respective areas," he said. Source: The Times of India