Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said the state government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore to Utkal University, which has maintained its pre-eminence in the country’s higher education sector. The funds will be utilised for opening six centres of excellence.
Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebration of the university, the CM said Rs 40 crore has already been sanctioned during the current academic year. He informed that funds have also been provided for infrastructure development of the university.
“Improving the quality of education at all levels of our education system is a top priority (of his government),” he underlined.
Alluding to the university’s role in shaping the state’s educational aspirations by achieving academic excellence, the CM said the varsity has been serving the learning needs of the state and the nation through creation of potential young minds.
On the occasion, he remembered great minds like Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Pandit Nilakantha Das and Pandit Godabaris Mishra “who visualised the capitalisation of the state’s intellectual resources through this university”.
He called upon the students of the university to contribute their lot for the growth of Odisha and be a part of this “unprecedented development process”.
The CM inaugurated the ‘Central Instrumentation Centre’ of the university and the digital library building. He also laid the foundation stone for the boundary wall project.