Sambalpur: Vice-Chancellor of the Odisha State Open University (OSOU) Dr. Srikant Mohapatra on Saturday laid the foundation stone of the university’s permanent campus at Badasinghari in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mohapatra said besides the basic UGC requirements like academic, administrative, warehouse, library buildings, the campus will have skill development centre, computer centre, student support service centre, campus development and maintenance centre, guest house for the visiting faculty, convention centre, recreation centre, health care centre, model laboratories and accommodation for the statutory authorities, teachers as well as non-teaching staff.
Around 40 acre of land has been allotted to the university in Badasinghari adjacent to the GM University second campus near Goshala in the city. The Higher Education department has assigned the construction work of the boundary wall of OSOU to Odisha State Police Housing Welfare Corporation (OPHWC).
Established by the state government on June 10, 2015, the OSOU started operating from a temporary building in the GM University campus with the first batch of 250 students. Now it has a student strength of over 30000.
The World Bank had sanctioned Rs 15 crore under the Odisha Higher Education Project for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) for the permanent campus of OSOU in 2018.