Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan among finest universities, say academicians

Bhubaneswar: Several eminent academicians on Wednesday heaped praise on Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) for emerging as one of the finest institutions of higher learning and rendering valuable services to society. “SOA has grown because of visionary leadership which has given a huge boost to the educational scenario,” said Prof Shreepad Karmalkar, Director of IIT, Bhubaneswar, while addressing the 18th Foundation Day of the university held here.

Ekamra Bhubaneswar MLA Babu Singh, Biju Patnaik University of Technology Vice Chancellor Prof Amiya Kumar Rath and Odisha University of Technology and Research Vice Chancellor Prof Bibhuti Bhushan Biswal also attended the function. While congratulating SOA on its Foundation Day, the speakers heaped praise on the university’s Founder President Prof (Dr) Manojranjan Nayak. They said his visionary leadership has contributed to the institution’s incredible growth within a short span of time.

Prof Karmalkar, who was the chief speaker, said SOA had been continuously striving to excel and has lived up to its reputation for being an ‘education’ and ‘research’ institution. He said education was not about learning diverse subjects but developing critical thinking in the student.

Prof Karmalkar said research begins with a curious mind and it was important that the researcher should get intrinsic pleasure in solving puzzles. Thomas Alva Edison failed again and again before succeeding in inventing the electric bulb while NASA stumbled 20 times out of 28 attempts to send rockets to space, he said.

Singh said SOA has become a milestone in the realm of higher education in Odisha and is counted as one of the best universities in the country. Prof Biswal heaped praise on Prof Nayak by saying he thought differently. “He was a brilliant student and teacher. Today he has become an institution,” he said. NAAC had re-accredited SOA with the highest grade as the university has maintained its quality while benefiting the community, he added.

Prof Rath described SOA as a complete book and said a few of its chapters were yet to be written. SOA Vice Chancellor Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda presided over the event.