Bhubaneswar: Having decided to amend the Odisha University (Amendment) Act 2020 brought by the previous BJD government, the state government held an important meeting and discussed the issue threadbare.
The meeting was convened by Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj in Bhubaneswar on Friday following instruction by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. The meeting was attended among others by Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan and Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling.
Official sources said that the meeting was held after the state government received a letter from Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in this regard.
Speaking at the meeting, Suraj said quick steps need to be taken to fill up the posts of lecturers lying vacant in different universities of the state.
Underlining the need for rectification in the Act enacted by the BJD government, the Minister said universities are now functioning under the supervision of officers on special duty. Once the Odisha University Act will be amended, the issues of appointment of VC along with teaching and non-teaching staff will be resolved, he said.
The previous BJD government had enacted the Odisha University (Amendment) Act bringing many extensive amendments to the original Act of 1989.
The provisions contained in the prevailing Act regarding selection of chancellors, and recruitment of teaching staff in universities are deviating from the regulations of UGC, the minister said.
Besides, the intellectual mass and several MLAs have also raised questions on the nomination of a representative of higher education secretary in the syndicate of the universities claiming that it diluted the autonomy of the public universities, he stated.
The government is taking steps to roll out a new scheme. Apart from giving autonomy to universities, the government will take steps to fill up the teaching posts through the committee formed by educationists, he said.