Premier educational institution Utkal University has been granted a sum of Rs 40 crore under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for infrastructure development.
The university, which has secured the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)’s ‘A Plus’ grade and is placed in top RUSA II list, has met the criteria to receive Rs 100 crore during next three years. Accordingly, the university has been sanctioned Rs 40 crore in the first phase of RUSA II, informed Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman Prof Ashok Kumar Das.
Prof Das, who is a former Vice-Chancellor of the Utkal University, said the Centre has decided to make 10 universities as the top educational institutions with best infrastructure facilities to the students for which Rs 100 crore would be sanctioned to each university under the RUSA for next three years. The Utkal University is among top 10 institutions in the RUSA list. The funds were released in first phase after Utkal University VC Prof Soumendra Mohan Patnaik tabled a report at a meeting in New Delhi a few months ago, he said. The RUSA is a Centrally-sponsored, overarching holistic and comprehensive umbrella scheme for norm-based funding for the State Universities and colleges to achieve the goals of expansion, equity and excellence with the aim of imparting relevant and value-based education for improving employability.
While the Centre would provide Rs 25 crore out of Rs 40 crore under the scheme, the remaining Rs 15 crore would be borne by the State Government. After submitting the first-phase fund utilisation report to the Centre, the remaining Rs 60 crore would be sanctioned to the university in the second phase of the scheme, said Prof Das.