Noted Documentary film producer and advocate Kumuda Prasad Acharya in a statement strongly protested the State Government ’s recent action in amalgamating the six years old prestigious Khallikote University with the Berhampur University.
Due to this amalgamation, the people of Southern Odisha in general and the people of Ganjam district in particular not only lost a university from their soil, but also the move has downscaled and undermined the growth of higher education in the region, he said.
Moreover, this university has six most demanding professional courses with an excellent team of faculty and was running very well since last half a decade.
Within a short span of time, the university could acclaim recognition both at national and international level for its quality research and work of several research projects carried out by different faculty members worth crores of rupees, he informed. According to information available, the Government reportedly at the behest of someone deliberately stopped the construction work of the university’s own new building on a patch of land allotted by the district revenue authority near Kanishi 10 months back.
This shows how some people have hatched a well planned conspiracy for about a year to abolish the university, he alleged.
He further suggested the State Government to desist from the move and instead of amalgamating the Khallikote University with Berhampur University, rename the university as “Biju Pattnaik University of Intensive Research”(BUIR). This would be a great tribute to late Bijubabu who always advocates for the development of Ganjam district. He demanded further that, the Government should revisit to its notification and roll back the amalgamation order/notification and issue a fresh order.
He further said that the Government has given three universities to western Odisha such Samabalpur University, BPUT, State Open University, besides IIM, whereas out of two existing universities only in Ganjam, the Government has deliberately taken away an existing university which is absolutely discriminatory and anti-people.