Higher Education Minister of Odisha, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak asked his department to fill up teaching and non-teaching vacancies in the colleges. Reviewing the department's activities on Saturday, July 8, the minister impressed upon the officers to create a database of all the faculty of the government-aided and grant-in-aid colleges through the software so that the vacancies can be monitored and rationalised, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express. 

Further, he also reviewed the progress of Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) and World Bank-funded projects, students scholarships distribution, measures taken to achieve higher National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) ranking and participation in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). 

A detailed discussion was held on further improvement in the standard of higher education and the development of educational institutions in the state. As the department is embroiled in a corruption controversy, Nayak advised the officers of the department to maintain absolute integrity and transparency. 

Additionally, he asked the department secretary to personally review the funds' utilisation of all colleges and ensure timely spending. With huge pension-related cases pending in the department, the minister asked department authorities for opening a dedicated pension cell to ensure that employees must receive their pension on the very day of retirement. 

"All the pending pension cases should be cleared within a specific timeline," he said. Secretary of Higher Education Arabinda Agrawal and other senior officers of the department were present for the review meeting.