Utkal University - History

History

After the separation of Orissa from Bihar and the creation of the new province of Orissa in April 1936, there was a strong desire among the leaders of the province for the establishment of a separate university in Orissa. Until 1936 all the colleges were under the jurisdiction of either Patna University or Andhra University. Subsequently the government of Orissa, with Shri Biswanath Das as the premier, appointed a committee on 2 March 1938 with Pandit Nilakantha Das as its chairman to examine the possibility of establishing a separate university in Orissa. During the premiership of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, who played a pioneering role in the establishment of the university, the recommendation of this committee was made available. Pandit Godavarish Mishra, the then minister of education in the government of Orissa introduced the Utkal University Bill which was passed by the Orissa Legislative Assembly on 30 June 1943. On receiving the Governor's assent subsequently on 2 August 1943, the Utkal University Act 1943 came into force, clearing the way for the foundation of the university on 27 November 1943.

In 1966 that Act was repealed and a new Utkal University Act came into effect from 1 January 1967. Initially Utkal University was operating from the Ravenshaw College, before it came to its own campus at Bhubaneswar, called Vani Vihar. Ravenshaw College remained affiliated to Patna University even after the separation of Orissa from Bihar in 1936; the affiliation was finally transferred to the newly created Utkal University in 1943. In fact, it was Ravenshaw College that gave birth to the new university, nursed and sustained it. It operated from Ravenshaw College's present Zoology Department building premises. The University has many departments from Anthropology to Zoology, for post-graduate teaching.