Work yet to begin on RD University’s second campus

BHUBANESWAR: The future of the second campus of Rama Devi (RD) Women’s University looks uncertain even though the government earmarked land for it last year. Work on the second campus has not gone beyond site selection.
The state government selected a plot at Gothapatna in Khurda district last year after the delay in the finalization of a suitable piece of land for the second campus created a hue and cry.The land in Gothapatna is spread over 78 acres but there is no clarity over how many acres have been allotted to the university.
“There will be another round of discussion before the land is handed over to the institution,” a senior higher education department official said.
Padmaja Mishra, vicechancellor of the university, said she had not received any official communication regarding the allotment of land for the second campus. “We can only make plans for construction after getting the land,” she said.
On January 30, 2018, the higher education department issued a notification to identify 30 acre inside Utkal University for the second campus of RD University. But the students of Utkal vehemently opposed it. The government then dropped the idea and formed an extended committee on February 19 to identify another piece of land for RD university.
The committee submitted a report on March 15, proposing the land in Gothapatna for the second campus. Earlier, the government had selected two plots on the outskirts of the city for the second campus but the university did not accept them owing to their remoteness.
The current campus of the university, which was set up on May 30, 2015, is spread over 22 acres near Rupali Square. Since it is an affiliating university with 48 women’s colleges under it, the need for a larger and betterequipped campus is urgent.
“We have not been able to start PhD programmes owing to infrastructure constraints. There isn’t enough space to set up good laboratories and research centres needed for doctoral programmes. We also need space to start new departments such as business administration and journalism,” a senior teacher of the university said.
“The university fails to host inter-college or interuniversity sports meets due to lack of a good playground or sports complex. Besides, we need staff quarters and guest houses inside the campus like other universities,” the senior teacher added.