UGC norms will be adhered to

BHUBANESWAR: The Government on Thursday said it would formulate specific guidelines for establishment of private universities in the State. “Presently, there is no policy for setting up of private universities because of which it has been decided to chalk out specific guidelines for the purpose,” Chief Secretary BK Patnaik told mediapersons here. The Government will follow the norms and principles of the University Grants Commission (UGC) while allowing private parties to set up varsities here, he added. Higher Education Secretary Chandrasekhar Kumar said more than two dozen private parties are interested in setting up universities in the State. “Private universities will be allowed to go ahead after verifying their credentials, academic programme and infrastructure facilities,” Kumar said. There are 11 government universities in the State including, two technical universities and a Central university. Besides, there are two deemed-to-be universities like KIIT and Sikshya O Anusandhan. The Assembly has recently passed bills for setting up Sri Sri University, ICFI and Centurion University.  While earlier there were only Utkal University, Berhampur University and Sambalpur University, the State Government set up Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology followed by Biju Patnaik University of Technology. This apart,  Fakir Mohan University, North Orissa University, Utkal University of Culture and Ravenshaw University have been set up. A National Law University and a campus of the Indira Gandhi Open University also function in the State.