The foundation stone for the second campus of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) at Badsinghari near the Basantpur area, on the outskirts of the city, was laid by vice-chancellor N Nagaraju.
The VC laid the foundation stone on Friday in the presence of the vice-chancellor of the Odisha State Open University (OSOU), Arka Kumar Das Mohapatra, Registrar of OSOU, Manas Ranjan Pujari, registrar of the GMU, Jugaleswari Dash.
Deputy registrar of GMU, UC Pati said the second campus of the GMU will be developed over 67 acres of the land. The department of Higher Education, Odisha has provided Rs 2.11 crore for the construction of a boundary walls surrounding the land.
The boundary wall work began on Friday. The Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC) is carrying out the construction of the boundary wall. A target has been set to complete the construction of the boundary wall in four months and in the meantime, the architectural plan for the second campus will be prepared, he said.
Pati said the construction work of the buildings for the second campus over the land at Badsinghari will be carried out with the fund of the Rashtriya Uchachatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). RUSA has already sanctioned Rs 27.5 crore for the development of infrastructure of the institution in the first phase.
The fund is being spent on the development of infrastructure in the existing campus of the university in Sambalpur city. The institution will get a grant of Rs 27.5 crore more in the second phase from RUSA.
The fund, which will be received in the second phase, will be utilised for the construction of buildings over the land at Badsinghari, he said. "We have planned to shift all the science departments of the varsity to the second campus after it is constructed. This apart, the new departments, which will be opened in future, will also function from the new campus. Moreover, an administrative building, library, guest house will also be developed there", Pati said.
