MANY HOPES PINNED ON VD COLLEGE

Once VD College is upgraded, it will become the first state-run, affiliating university in South Bihar. The region, one of the most backward in the country, needs it.

- Sanjay

Patita Panigrahi has never been to the university himself but while his elder brother was studying commerce, he had to go multiple times to get a provisional mark sheet. "It took him at least five times of traveling and a month to get the document. It takes a minimum two days to go there and come back here, to Jeypore," said Panigrahi, first-year student of political science at Vikram Deb (Autonomous) College in Jeypore, Koraput district, and affiliated to Odisha's Berhampur University, over 350 km away.

On February 2, 2023, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced that from 2023-24, VD College will itself become a university the first state-run, affiliating university of South Odisha. The change the college's faculty, alumni and students hope will improve student enrollment, administrative functioning and academic activities.

"As of now, our college is unable to change exam dates and other schedules set by the university even though several times it happens that local situations like floods do not leave any room for holding exams and other events. Now, we have our own university and we will make decisions based on our situations," said Panigrahi. Having a university close to home will encourage more youths from the district to pursue higher education, said students.

VK Pandian, private secretary to the CM and secretary to CM-Transformational Initiatives (5T), said that upgrading VD College to university status will "immensely help students" of four districts - Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur. "This university will spread the wings of quality education in Southern Odisha," Pandian said in an Instagram post.