Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous with the protesters outside SB Women’s College gate on Thursday
Bhubaneswar: Higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj appealed to students of Sailabala Women’s College to call off their agitation, with the state govt examining their demand for university status for the institution.Speaking at an event here, Suraj said SB College would need to fulfil several criteria to be upgraded to a university, including land, a second campus, and teaching and non-teaching staff. “It is very easy to upgrade a college to a university without looking into its basic requirements. Consider the example of DD College of Keonjhar, which was upgraded to a university during the past govt’s tenure but could not even get a VC till date.
We do not want the same plight for SB Women’s College,” he said.The minister further informed that the first focus would be infrastructure development of the college. “The govt will examine the situation and take a decision accordingly. We will hold a discussion with students soon,” he said.
