Education in Odisha

Historically, Orissa has been at the forefront of education and research. The ruins of a major ancient university, Puspagiri, were recently discovered in Orissa. Scholars from far away lands, such as Greece, Persia and China used to study philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and science at this famed University. Along with Takshashila and Nalanda universities, Puspagiri was among the oldest universities in the world. All three universities were mentioned by the Chinese traveler Huien Tsang (Xuanzang), who visited India in the 7^th century, but unlike the others, the whereabouts of Puspagiri university were unknown until recently. As of 2007, the ruins of this university have not been fully excavated yet.^[2][3]

Orissa's education prospered under Hindu and Buddhist rule. However, it went into a period of decline under the Sun dynasty, after 1568. The Muslims and the Marathas, who occupied Orissa before the British, did little to spread education.^[4] Before the creation of modern Orissa, the mainstay of the education system were the Sanskrit Pathsalas, and the Maktabs, which existed in Cuttack, Balasore, Puri, Angul and Sambalpur, local Chatasalis to cater to grassroot level education, as well as advanced centers of Oriental learning.^[5]

The colonialization of Orissa by the British East India Company in 1803 proved disastrous to Orissa in all spheres. It led to the collapse of the traditional education system. Yet, Orissa being one of the last Indian territories to come under the British rule became exposed much later than other parts of India to the system of education they introduced. Under the East India Company, Christian missionaries who took up printing the Old and New Testaments in Oriya, also contributed to some growth in education. The first primary school was created in 1822 by missionaries.

The Cuttack Zilla school, Orissa's first modern school up to matriculation level, was established in 1866. It was extended to become a Collegiate school in 1868, which provided first and second year college education to Oriya students. However, Oriyas were severely disadvantaged by having to attend Presidency College in Kolkata for B.A. degrees. This was until the collegiate branch of Zilla school was converted into a full Bachelor's degree granting college under the then commissioner, T. E. Ravenshaw. This college was named as Ravenshaw College after him.

Women's education was taken up with the establishment of the Ravenshaw Hindu Girl's School in 1873. The Maharajah of Keonjhar, the Rani or Talcher, amongst other notable Oriya personalities, who made contributions. Later, Reba Ray, a former student of this school and Sailabala Das became instrumental in furthering the cause of women's education, leading to the creation of the Sailabala Mahila College.

Medical education began with the opening of the first medical school in 1876, by Dr. Stewart, the Civil Surgeon of Cuttack, who also translated the Materia Medica into Oriya. The first industrial school was opened in 1884, in Alalpur, Balasore. A survey school began at the same time in Cuttack, which later on became the Orissa School of Engineering, marking the beginnings of technical education in the state.^[4]

Although 10 years of primary education is mandatory in Orissa, the literacy rate is only 68.8%, which is marginally ahead of the national average of 67.8%.^[1] Coastal districts of Orissa enjoy high literacy rates, whereas the southern interior region lags behind. The government of India has undertaken steps to improve women's literacy in the tribal pockets in the state and elsewhere in India.^[6]

In Orissa, as elsewhere in India, children are enrolled in school at the age of five. The core subjects taught in schools include science (including physics, chemistry and biology), mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, computer science, and set theory), social studies (geography, history, civics, and economics), and three languages, which are usually Oriya, Hindi, and English. Additionally, school children receive training in sports and physical education, as well as vocational training.

After ten years of schooling, children at the end of class X must appear in one of the three school examinations, (i) the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) conducted by the central government run Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), (ii) Orissa High School Certificate Examination, which is conducted by the Board of Secondary Education,Orissa and (iii) the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examination, conducted annually by the New Delhi based Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). Children who appear in either the All India Secondary School Examination or the Orissa High School Certificate Examination have a choice of using Oriya, Hindi or English as the medium language. However, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations makes English the mandatory language.

Two years of higher secondary education follow, which is optional. Students, usually in the 15 through 17 age group, have a choice of specializing in the following streams (i) science, (ii) arts, or (iii) commerce. At this stage, the students get exposed to a wide array of elective subjects. The CBSE conducts the All India Senior School Certificate Examination and the CISCE conducts the Indian School Certificate Examinations for students in class XII.There are also junior colleges and degree colleges in the state that offer secondary education for class XII children. The Council of Higher Secondary Education, Orissa conducts the higher secondary level examination for them.

This educational structure in Orissa is referred to commonly as the 10+2 system. Students who undergo the 10+2 education system are eligible for admission into a college or university in Orissa, and can also opt for other professional training. However, admission into the few top institutions in Orissa, particularly in engineering and medicine, are highly competitive. Students graduating from class XII typically must qualify in an entrance examination in order to gain admission.

 

The government of Orissa conducts a highly competitive Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) annually to select students for admission into the various engineering colleges operating under BPUT. In the year 2006, as many as 49,555 candidates appeared in the JEE.

Orissa has become a hub for higher education and has numerous inistitutions which are nationally and internationally recognised.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar is the first of the six new Indian Institutes of Technology established by the MHRD, Government of India in 2008^[7]. The classes for the current academic session are currently being held in Bhubaneswar city. The academic session in IIT Bhubaneswar commences from August each year. The permanent IIT campus is being set up in Argul, in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar^[8]. A total of 935 acres of land has been allocated towards the self contained campus for 10,000 students and 1,100 faculty, making it the second largest of all IITs after the one at Kharagpur, and largest IIT in any metropolitan location. A science park is being set up as a part of this institution to support industry oriented research activities^[9].

IIT Bhubaneswar offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in technical disciplines, and is undergoing rapid expansion into one of the leading IITs in India. Admission into these programs are highly competitive. As of 2009, there are undergraduate programs leading to B. Tech degrees in civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical enginering. Postgraduate students are being admitted into the M. Tech and Ph.D. programs.

The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) is a premier research institution in India along the lines of the internationally reputed IISc in Bangalore, and five sister institutions, the IISERs. Instead of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, NISER operates under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It was established in 2007, in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, when the first batch of students were admitted into its integrated postgraduate program based on a highly competitive national level entrance examination. The government of India has earmarked an initial outlay of Rs. 823 crores (INR 7.5 billion) during the first seven years of this project.

NISER is dedicated to graduate education and research only. It offers 5 year integrated M.S. as well as Ph. D. degrees in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology. Later, engineering, computer science, as well as earth and planetary sciences will be added. The Orissa government has provided 300 acres (1.2 km²) free of cost for the upcoming campus, in Barunei Hills, between Bhubaneswar, the state capital and Khurda.^[10][11]

Keeping in view the paucity of central government institutions in the state, the government of Orissa has mooted the idea of a National Institute for Technology Education and Research (NITER), a sister institution of NISER, in Bhubaneswar.^[12]

A national university of international standards for cutting-edge research is being set up in Bhubaneswar. The government plan views it as a unified centre of excellence in engineering, the sciences, humanities, management and medicine^[13][14][15]. The government of India will seek expertize from leading universities, such as Yale, MIT and Princeton, in setting up the national university at Bhubaneswar^[16].

A new NIPER is planned in Bhubaneswar ^[17][18].

A new Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) is planned in Bhubaneswar ^[17][18].

This is a newly established centrally funded university in Koraput.

The central government will establish four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs). One of the locations would be the city of Berhampur in southern Orissa.^[19][20][21]

The central government recently announced plans to create a new National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Orissa's capital city, Bhubaneswar.^[20][22] A total of 35 acres of land have been granted by the state government. The NIFT would be funded through the Indian Ministry of Commerce. It will admit students in 2010.^[23]

The government of India had promised to build an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the state. The foundation stone was laid in Bhubaneswar, in 2003. According to recent media sources, the progress in this front has been tardy. As of 2007, the state has not received any budgetary support from the Indian government.^[24][25] However, there are indications that construction work will begin towards the end of 2007.^[26]

A national law university has been established in Naraj, in the outskirts of the city of Cuttack. Classes have begun from 2009.

The National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Rourkela is the foremost engineering degree granting institutions in Orissa. It has been awarded the status of an Institute of National Importance under the NIT Act and ranks among the best in India. It has been placed third in the eastern zone in the latest DataQuest ranking (2005), only after IIT Kharagpur and IIT Guwahati.^[27]

The Institute of Physics is a Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) run research institution that also provides research facilities for postgraduate research.

The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) is a Department of Biotechnology run national institition that conducts research in molecular and cell biology. The mandate of ILS is to undertake basic and translational research in frontier areas of life sciences. The research interests of the faculty are in three major areas: infectious disease biology, gene function and regulation and translation research and technology development. In addition, new collaborations with industry have been established to tap commercial potential of laboratory science.

The Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) is located in the city of Cuttack. It is one of the premier institutions in Asia for rice research. It was established by the center in 1946 with an experimental farm land of 0.6 km² provided by the Orissa government. It is the second largest institution dedicated to rice research after the one at Manila.

An Employees State Insurance Corporation Medical College (ESIC) and hospital is being established in the Bharatpur area of Bhubaneswar at an investment of Rs. 600 crores. Earlier, there were demands to relocate this institution to Rourkela instead.^[28]

The Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT, formerly Regional Research Laboratory) is an established institution in Bhubaneswar in 1964 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is a research establishment with expertise in areas such as material science, mineral engineering and metallurgy.

The central government has recently set up some more small institutions. Among them is the regional campus of the Gwalior based institute in Bhubaneswar, called the Indian Institute of Tourism Travel and Management Baji Rout Regional Centre (IITTM). It will offer postgraduate diploma courses in travel & tourism and international business. Another institution, the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) was established in 2007 by the Ministry of chemical and fertilizers. One of its campuses is at Bhubaneswar. It offers a postgraduate degree in plastic technology and engineering, as well as several diploma courses. The Indian Institute of Handloom Technology is also being set up^[29].

A premier centre of education research, the Regional Institute of Education is located near Acharya Vihar in Bhubaneswar. It is a regional centre of NCERT serving the eastern region. Apart from running training programmes for teachers of schools and colleges, the institute also has integrated courses of B.Sc and B.Ed. The institute also runs courses on B.Ed. and M.Ed.

Outside the Bhubaneswar metropolitan region, a small branch campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) was established in Dhenkanal in 1993. It offers postgraduate courses in English and Oriya journalism.^[30] Located in Puri, the Biju Patnaik National Steel Institute conducts a certificate course in iron & steel manufacturing & plant management.

Utkal University (Vani Vihar) was the first university to be established in Orissa in 1943. It is also the seventeenth oldest in India. It is located in Bhubaneswar and has about 3,000 postgraduate and doctoral students enrolled. The university has jurisdiction over nine districts in Orissa, namely Angul, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh and Puri, catering to the needs of higher education of a population of over 11 million people.

 

Sambalpur University (Jyoti Vihar) in Burla, in western Orissa is another important university covering the districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Bargarh, Bolangir, Subarnapur, Nawapara, Kalahandi, Boudh as well as the Athamallik Sub-Division of Angul district. It offers postgraduate education in twenty seven subjects. The university has been functioning since 1967.

Berhampur University was established in southern Orissa in 1965, as the third oldest university in the state. The University has 25 affiliated colleges and covers the districts of Ganjam, Koraput, Kandhomal, Gajapati, Rayagda, Nawrangpur and Malkangiri.

The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) was established in the city of Bhubaneswar in 1962. It is dedicated to agriculture related research and education, and has seven colleges as well as a centre for postgraduate studies.

Established in 1956 at Burla, the Vir Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, formerly known as University College of Engineering (UCE) is Orissa's oldest, and one of the east zone's oldest and prestigious engineering institutions. Initially an autonomous college, now it has been elevated as a university. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees in several engineering disciplines. VSSUT receives financial grants from the AICTE and UGC, two central agencies, as well as from the state government. While other major engineering institutions (such as the IITs) only enjoy deemed university status, VSSUT is India's only full scale university for engineering and technology.

The Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT),Rourkela, was created by an act of the Orissa state legislature in the year 2002. Almost all the engineering, pharmacy, architecture and most of the colleges offering MBA degree programmes are either constituent or affiliated colleges of BPUT. Today, the university has 110 colleges, both constituent and affiliated, with around 58,000 students. The disciplines include engineering and architecture, business management and hotel management, computer studies and pharmacy.

Upgraded from Ravenshaw College one of the oldest and largest colleges of India, the Ravenshaw University came into existence on 15 November 2006. Originally affiliated to University of Calcutta and thereafter to Patna University and then finally to Utkal University the institution finally got its own identity and became one of the most reputed universities of the Orissa state. Presently the University runs 23 Post-Graduate courses with research facilities and 27 Undergraduate honours courses.

The Utkal University of Culture is a newly established institution located in Bhubaneswar.

The Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT) is located at Sarang in the industrial belt of Talcher. It was established in 1982 by the government of Orissa. In addition to four year undergraduate degrees in electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil engineering, and metallurgical & materials science, it offers three year diplomas in a few technical disciplines.

The College of Engineering and Technology (CET) was established within the purview of OUAT in Bhubaneswar. It is primarily an undergraduate college, offering programs in architecture, computer science, information technology, and electrical, civil, instrumentation & electronics and mechanical engineering.

Established in 1944, The Shriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College (SCB Medical College) at Cuttack, is the premier medical institution in Orissa and one of the oldest in India. It offers postgraduate degrees in all broad areas of medicine. It also runs super speciality training facilities in several areas such as cardiology, neurosurgery, and radiotherapy. There also exists a dental wing under the SCB Medical college.

The Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Medical college and hospital has been in operation since 1959 in Burla. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate education in medicine and surgery, besides offering training courses in pharmacy and nursing.

The Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) Medical College is a medical college in Berhampur. It was originally started in 1976 as an extension of the SCB Medical College. It operates under Berhampur University. It offers MBBS and MD degrees and also provides training in medical related fields.

The Institute of Mathematics and Applications, (IMA) located in Bhubaneswar is an academic institution, established by the government of Orissa to conduct advanced research in pure and applied mathematics, and to conduct advanced postgraduate degree programs in the field. It was established in 1999.

 

Vedanta University is based on a $3 billion endowment by Anil Agarwal, a successful Indian industrialist and philanthropist. According to its founders, Vedanta University will be India's only truly world-class university, comparable to Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford universities. It will offer undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees to 100,000 Indian and foreign students in 95 disciplines in engineering, medicine, business, liberal arts, sciences, law, and the performing arts. ^[31] The sprawling 8,000 acres (32 km²) Vedanta University campus is being developed along the Puri-Konark marine drive, near the bay of Bengal, between Nuanai and Balighai beach. This task is being implemented by the Baltimore based architectural firm, Ayers Saint Gross.^[32]

According to newspaper reports, Vedanta University will be developed in several phases until its planned completion in 2025. However, the university is expected to start admitting its first batch of around 3,500 students as early as 2011, into its engineering, liberal arts, and basic science programs. Most academic schools, including those of law and performing arts, as well as a few centers of excellence would be in place by 2016. The campus is expected to develop into a full-fledged university township with a population of 500,000.

The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) was established in 1987. It owes its origin to a contract between the Government of Orissa and the Orissa Jesuit Society. XIMB is governed by a board consisting of representatives from the Orissa Jesuit Society, the government of India, the government of Orissa, as well as invited industrialists and academics.

XIMB has been ranked among the top 10 business schools in India. The institutions offers postgraduate programs, leading to Masters and Ph.D. degrees in business management, rural management, as well several professional training programs.^[33] It has a few research centers in areas such as entrepreneurship, utility regulation, small and micro enterprise development, and healthcare management. XIMB will establish a second campus in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar in 2011 to coincide with the institution's silver jubilee.^[34]

The Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir Trust and the Government of Orissa signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 18, 2006 to establish a full-fledged multidisciplinary university near the state capital, Bhubaneswar and former capital,Cuttack within two or three years. Admission into the proposed varsity will be open to 15,000 Indian as well as foreign students. It will offer postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in traditional Indian as well as modern fields of study, such as sciences, engineering, humanities, pharmacy, biosciences, law, Vedic studies, Ayurveda, and Yoga.^[35]

The proposed campus will be established in approximately 200-300 acres of land along the banks of the Kathjodi river in picturesque Naraj, near the city of Cuttack.^[36] Naraj will be developed into an education city.^[37]

 

The Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) is established in Bhubaneswar in 1992. Academic programmes of KIIT University are conducted by its seven constituent schools - School of Technology, School of Computer Application, School of Management, School of Rural Management, School of Medicine, School of Biotechnology and KIIT Law School.

Hyderabad based Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the chief minister of Orissa, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, to set up a university in the outskirts of the city of Bhubaneswar. ICFAI plan to buy 150 acres (0.6 km²) of land from private parties in Jatni, near the Khurda Road station.^[38][39] The university is budgeted at Rs. 150 crores (1.5 billion). It will function primarily as a business school.

An Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) is being set up in Bhubaneswar. It will be partly funded by the government of Orissa, and partly self-financed. The institute will have a 100-acre (0.4 km²) campus close to the new Infocity-II area in the city, where several IT companies are building new offices. It will start operating in September 2007, with a small initial intake of 60 students.^[40][41]

In June, 2007, the UPA government in New Delhi decided to establish a central government funded IIITs in each state. The IIIT in Orissa would be established in Berhampur, and unlike its sister institute in Bhubaneswar, would receive funding from the center.^[20]

The IIIT at Berhampur is being established on a 100-acre (0.40 km²) land and this is likely to be functional by end of 2009. This will help attracting more IT companies to South Orissa and the presence of STPI Berhampur and IT Park at Berhampur will also help. The Marine Bio-Technology Park is also planned for Berhampur.

National institutes of excellence have been established recently in Bhubaneswar, while several more are planned, such as AIIMS, NISER, IIT, IIIT, and a National university. There are several prominent private universities, such as XIMB and ICFAI University. Other major upcoming prominent institutions, such as Sri Sri University, the National Law University of Orissa, as well as the world's biggest academic institution, Vedanta University, will be located in the neighboring cities of Cuttack and Puri.^[42][43]. Institutions dedicated to research such as the Institute of Physics, and the Institute of Mathematics and Applications are also located here. The presence of so many quality institutions within close proximity of one another, is expected to stimulate academic excellence in and around Bhubaneswar, and serve as a catalyst for future growth. Additionally, the city also houses several Orissa government funded public universities, and over 70 technical institutions, which well above than any other city in eastern India. The city is also being promoted as an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) by the government^[44]. A total of 40 km² of land has been allocated for the purpose, out of which about 60% will be devoted to research and development.^[45] The Chief Minister of the state has asserted that Bhubaneswar is poised to emerge as India's foremost education hub.^[46][47]

The Orissa Higher Education Vision 2020, an effort organized by leading national and international researchers, scientists, and academicians of Oriya origin, envisages a globally competitive higher education system in Orissa by 2020, with four tiered knowledge centers being developed throughout the state. An international level knowledge hub comparable to the San Francisco Bay Area or Boston metropolitan area in the USA is suggested in the rapidly expanding Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Khurda-Puri metropolitan region. This will consist of several world class universities, technical and medical institutions, and laboratories, including NISER, IIT, IIIT, National University, National Law University, AIIMS, Vedanta University, Sri Sri University, NIPER, and several other new institutions to be established by the central government or through public-private partnership, as well as private institutions. At the second tier would be five other metropolitan regions, Rourkela, Sambalpur-Jharsuguda, Berhampur, Balasore-Baripada, and Jeypore-Koraput-Sunabeda, each with two universities, multiple engineering and medical colleges, as well as one or more national level institution. The third tier knowledge hubs, located in all urban areas throughout the state, would have a university, an autonomous college, as well as a medical and an engineering college. Lastly, the fourth tier would include smaller towns, which would have at least an autonomous college and a trade school.^[48]

The Orissa state legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) will be formulating a Private Universities Act to facilitate the growth of private universities such as Vedanta university, Sri Sri university. The higher education department of the state will draft the bill, which will be referred to the law department, before being placed in the assembly. This bill would guarantee the fiscal and administrative autonomy for private institutions.^[49][50][51]

The Orissa legislature will also pass a specific act to make Vedanta university a statutory body. After the passage of the act, the university will be regarded as a non-profit organization. It will establish its own, independent governing board, where the Orissa government will not exercise any control.

See also Orissa IIT Controversy

Until 2007, the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) of the Government of India had set up several premier technical institutes, across the country that produce India's world class talent pool in science, engineering, and management, and contribute strongly to the economic development of the state where they are located as well as the nation. These institutions included the original seven IITs, the Indian Institute of Science, the original five IIMs, the Indian Statistical Institute, several earlier central universities, and a few other smaller institutions, all of which receive direct funding from the center.^[52] There were reports of large scale discrimination in setting up these institutions of higher learning against a few states, especially Orissa.^[53] It was observed within scholarly circles that Orissa was routinely discriminated against by the Indian government, which had caused the state to lag behind the rest of the nation in terms of infrastructure, poverty reduction, literacy, education, and health until very recently.^{[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]}

Until recently, none of the premier institutions of national importance were located in the state of Orissa.^{[62][63][64][65]} In terms of per capita funding received from the HRD ministry, it was among the bottom-most of all states along with Bihar and Rajasthan, and a few very small states in the north eastern region.^[66][52][67] The non-allocation of quality educational institutions to the state of Orissa by New Delhi has been interpreted by various quarters, ranging from politicians to Oriya academics living abroad, as proof of discrimination against the state by the HRD ministry. Orissa, which had 3.6% of the population of India, received a minuscule 0.73% of the allocated budget^{[68][69][53][70][66]} The inequitable distribution of resources by the central government to the various states was identified in 1991 as a cause of regional disparities.^[68][71] Studies had blamed central government policies above any other factor, as the cause of Orissa's recent backwardness.^{[68][72][73][74][75][76][77]}

There were also early allegations of discrimination in establishing newer institutions, such as the IIESTs, a group of technical institutions planned to be IIT clones. They were set up by upgrading existing NITs and other state funded prominent engineering institutions. Several institutions have been identified by the Indian government for this purpose^[78], but none in Orissa, which had the University College of Engineering at Burla, one of the oldest in India^[79], as well as NIT, Rourkela which ranked higher than four of the five institutions that were selected.^[27]. It has been alleged that the government had originally picked Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa as one of the locations for an IISER, which was later shifted to Kolkata.^[80]

As of 2009, there is a demand for one of the new IIMs to be established in Orissa, on grounds that the state is witnessing large-scale foreign investment, and because until recently, it had been the bottom-most state in Indian central government funded institutions.^[81][82]

• Center for Promoting an Equitable India
• Orissa at the receiving end of MHRD again: Announced for new IIT for Orissa shifted?
• KBK Adivasi Central University & similar ones in other backward-n-tribal district clusters
• Regional balance as well as academic excellence in making new IITs and IIESTs
• Orissa Watch
• OrissaLinks: Orissa infrastructure links with some commentary
• Universities in Orissa
• Research Institutes in Orissa
• Favouritisms in the 2006-2007 Indian budget
• Towards Inclusive Institutions
• Orissa Higher Education Vision 2020