The Berhampur University is going to witness a series of reforms and rectifications in its academic deficiencies in the days ahead. The university will sign an MoU with one of the premier national level institutes for development, research and transfer of technology soon.
According to new Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Deepak Behera, the university is going to sign the MoU with the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), the only institute in the country with a state-of-the-art working system in the field of rural development for collaborative research, training and sharing of technical knowhow in the five principal domains, namely, livelihood, fisheries, innovative education, women empowerment and tribal development without any financial implications on the part of the university.
The MoU would be signed between the university and the NIRD at a brief function to be held on August 17, for which NIRD Director General Dr MV Rao has been invited.
After the signing of the MoU, the university is contemplating to hold an awareness programme in the evening through SIG groups for deliberation and exchange of ideas between faculty members and researchers working in the above five principal domains in order to associate the various postgraduate departments and explore technical expertise of the NIRD for development and empowerment of the rural areas in this region, Prof Behera added.
According to sources, the Vice-Chancellor is contemplating to urge the NIRD Director to take over the management of the famous deer park located in the university campus as the university has no fund for its maintenance. The university is currently spending Rs 5 lakh per year towards maintenance of the deer park.
In the meantime, the Vice-Chancellor has ordered for examination reforms and indicated to initiate action against the officials found guilty.He has already issued directives to conduct open PhD viva-voce in the respective departments, introduce stringent entrance examination for registration into PhD programmes, introduce course work for PhD students in accordance with the 2009 guidelines of the UGC and submit eight panels of examiners by the supervisors instead of six to adjudicate the thesis, sources said.
After Prof Behera assumed office, several erring staff members have been issued memos for their negligence in duty, the sources further said. The reforms initiated by the VC are widely hailed by the public.