Four years after its establishment, Khallikote Cluster University in Berhampur, Odisha, is functioning with inadequate students, departments and staff. The university has only six departments and 27 students.
While both Khallikote Autonomous College and the university are running from one campus amid space crunch, 32 teachers, against the sanctioned posts of 42, are imparting education to 27 students of the university. On the other hand, Khallikote College has 19 departments with over 4,500 students.
Though Khallikote University (KU) was set up in 2015 under Rashtriya Uchhatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), the academic session and admission started in 2018 with 30 students. Later, three students took their CLCs and got admitted in other institutions.
Initially, an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) was given charge in place of the Vice-Chancellor while the charge of the principal was entrusted with the Registrar. In 2018, Prof Amarendra Narayan Mishra was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the university.
The State Government had allotted 20-acre land at Palur Hills, about 8 km away from the city, in 2015 for its permanent campus. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) was entrusted with the job of construction of the new campus at an estimated cost of around `11 crore from RUSA fund, but it is yet to take off.
However, the CPWD officials found the allotted patch of land not suitable as around six acre is full of boulders with low groundwater level.
Later, the university authorities, with the help of revenue officials, selected another patch of land, around 3 km away from the earlier plot, and submitted the proposal to the Government for approval.
The Vice-Chancellor said a master plan for the campus has already been prepared and it will come up within a year.
Meanwhile, the functioning of both institutions has affected the studies of Khallikote College due to lack of adequate space. Though the matter was placed before the Government several times, no action has been taken so far.The university has placed another proposal for the establishment of its laboratory and purchase of equipment worth around Rs 1.5 crore. It has decided to get a rented house to accommodate the facility. The university has also approved `69 lakh for its media technology lab and is contemplating to shift its department and e-library to the rented house.
