Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati appointed Vice-Chancellors for 14 state universities, including Utkal, Ravenshaw, and Fakir Mohan. The appointments fill long-vacant positions, drawing praise from the Higher Education Minister. Opposition BJD criticised the state for delays and warned of student protests if vacancies persist.

Bhubaneswar: In a significant development, the Governor of Odisha and the Chancellor of state public universities, Hari Babu Kambhampati, on Monday announced the appointments of Vice Chancellors for 14 universities across the state.​

In exercise of powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Odisha Universities Act, 1989, and the proviso to Section 8 of the Odia University Act, 2017 (in respect of Odia University), new Vice-Chancellors have been appointed for 14 universities.​

The universities include Utkal University, Fakir Mohan University, Ravenshaw University, Dharanidhar University, Gangadhar Meher University, Khallikote University, Madhusudan Law University, Maa Manikeshwari University, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Rama Devi Women's University, Rajendra University, Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University, Vikram Dev University, and Odia University.​

As per the press release issued by Odisha Lok Bhawan, Prof. Chandi Prasad Nanda will take charge, while Prof. Arka Kumar Das Mohapatra has been appointed at Ravenshaw University and Prof. Santosh Kumar Tripathy at Fakir Mohan University.​