Rourkela, June 9: Rourkela Autonomous College that was once upon a time considered to be declared as a University, is still away from this row.

It has got everything essential to be a university, but it just  awaits  the university status from the government.

Sources said, Rourkela Autonomous College is one of the best Colleges of Sundergarh among as many as 173 higher institutions. It has post graduation courses in as many as 17 subjects along with  M Phil. programmes in three important streams. It has at least 20 honours classes which is rarely seen in any other government colleges.

At the same time, the College fulfills every eligibility criteria for a full-fledged university. Its academic achievements and infrastructures are worth commendable at the Higher Education Department, University Grant Commission (UGC) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council ( NAAC). Despite, the College can’t get the university status so far, though it was one among the colleges to be upgraded into Autonomous Varsities.

As a result, students of the district depend upon the private universities bearing higher cost or get admitted in far away universities. At the same time, most of rural girls are leaving their higher studies out of social reasons.

According to the guest faculty in History, Dr Prabhat Kumar Mallik, Rourkela Autonomous College is no less than a university. However, a formal ‘University Tag’ will enrich its academic domain into an appreciable apex. Thus, the government should think over its immediate up-gradation into a varsity, he added.