External Affairs Official Wants SOA In Bhubaneswar To Admit More Foreign Students

Bhubaneswar: Siksha O Anusandhan (SOA) Deemed to be University in Odisha capital should allow the students from foreign countries having good relation with India to study in the university, said Dr Pradip Singh Rajpurohit, Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday.

During a visit to the university, Dr Rajpurohit, who looks after West Asia and North Africa, interacted with senior SOA officials. He said more foreign students should prefer to study in SOA as it always strives for excellence.

“Middle income group families in countries like Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain prefer India for higher studies of their children. It was because of the tension and war like situation in several of these countries,” he said.

India has friendly relations with Israel while countries like Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen share good relationship with our country. SOA should take this opportunity to allow students from these countries to study in the university, he said.

SOA’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda presented an overview about SOA in the meeting.

Among others, Prof Manjula Das, Controller of Examination; Prof Neeta Mohanty, Dean, faculty of dental sciences; Prof Bijay Kumar Sahu, Dean, faculty of agricultural sciences; Prof Sitikantha Mishra, Dean cum Advisor, faculty of hospitality and tourism management; Prof PK Sahu, Dean, faculty of engineering and technology; Prof Anup Kumar Samantaray, Dean, faculty of management sciences; Prof Nachiketa K Sharma, Director, University Outreach Program and Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean, Students’ Welfare were present.