The State Government has allowed the Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) in Sambalpur to set up a Bhima Bhoi Chair.
The Department of Higher Education (DoHE) has approved a proposal by the GMU to set up the Chair in the name of the great saint poet to carry out interdisciplinary research in the area of social sciences including literary creations and ‘Dalit’ literature.
Earlier, GMU Vice-Chancellor Atanu Kumar Pati held discussions with Higher Education Secretary Bishnupada Sethi in this regard.
Bhima Bhoi, a 19th Century poet and prophet of the Mahima religion, was born in western Odisha. Not much is known about Bhoi, but he was by birth a Kondh and was born with abject poverty and was deprived of education and a decent living. He spent his life in Redhakhol and Birmaharajpur in the later part of 19th century.
Bhima Bhoi’s mission was “Jagat Uddhara” (liberation of the entire world) and he believed in one God, one society and one religion.
The GMU, being located centrally in western Odisha, is best suited for studies on the life and achievements of Bhima Bhoi, according to its Vice-Chancellor Prof Pati.
The Bhima Bhoi Chair would design tailor-made solutions for challenges faced by the marginalised sections of the population of Odisha, mostly western parts of the State.
The Chair would strive to have an in-depth study and analysis of socioeconomic exclusions of the people belonging to the most deprived sections of the society and the needed initiatives and interventions policies to achieve inclusive growth, said Prof Pati.
The establishment of the Chair would place the Gangadhar Meher University in the forefront of research as far as life and living conditions of people reeling under poverty, deprivations and multiple levels and types of exclusions, pointed out the Vice-Chancellor.