Cuttack: The Odisha government is committed to establishing universities in all 30 districts of the state in a phased manner, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said on Sunday.
This came a day after students of Sailabala Women’s Autonomous College in Cuttack staged a massive 10-hour protest in front of the main gate of the institution. The blockade ended after Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous intervened late in the evening and convinced the agitating students to call off their protest and unlock the gate.
The students and alumni, who had been staging silent protests for the university status for the past 30 days, intensified their agitation after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced four new greenfield universities in Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Jharsuguda in the budget for 2026-27.
Addressing allegations of negligence toward Shailabala in the recent budget, the Minister emphasised that the government has not ignored the demand. “In this year’s budget, priority has been given to districts that currently do not have a university. These institutions will be freshly built and not upgraded. Ignoring institutions after upgrading a college into a university is not our motto. Our focus is on inclusive and balanced development of educational institutions. Over 1352 posts are currently vacant in universities and four of them have put up advertisements for recruitment,” he said, stressing the difference in the approach of the current dispensation from previous ones.
He further stated that the government is considering the demand and a decision will be taken at an appropriate time.
Earlier, Sofia had described the students’ demands as genuine and expressed surprise at the government’s apparent indifference. “The agitators had refused to budge from their position unless the Chief Minister or Higher Education met them. Sailabala Women’s College is one of the oldest women’s colleges in the state from where 3,000 students graduate annually. It also carries the legacy of Madhu babu (Madhusudan Das),” she said.
Besides university status, the students are demanding return of the prime land taken away by the state government for construction of a public road and retention of the college building with the DHE which the Culture department is eyeing to convert into ‘Madhu Smaraki’ museum. They also asked the state government to fulfil its promise of constructing the second campus of the college in a nearby area.
The MLA added that she would raise the issue in the Odisha Assembly on Monday.
