Bhubaneswar: The State Legislative Assembly on Saturday passed three Bills including the one to accord unitary university status to the College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Bhubaneswar.
The House has passed the Odisha University of Technology and Research Bill, 2021. With the passing of this Bill, CET Bhubaneswar will now be upgraded to a state unitary university. After establishment of the university, it will be named as the Odisha University of Technology and Research (OUTR).
The main objective of the university will be to develop education, research and training in the fields of engineering, technology and information technology, act as a centre for enhancing mutual cooperation and cooperation among teaching, research community and industries.
The university will also serve as a centre for fostering cooperation and interaction between the academic and research community and industry and organize exchange programmes with other institutions in India and abroad with a view to keeping abreast of the latest developments in relevant areas of teaching and research.
It will also help in providing industrial consultancy services and assistance for improving employability including entrepreneurial training, specialized skilled training in soft skill requirements by industries.
This will help in introducing new generation industry oriented and employment linked courses. It will also enable the institute to have better access to academic resources and intellectual capital worldwide.
It was established in 1981 as a constituent college of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and later, affiliated to Biju Patnaik University of Technology.
The campus of CET is spread over 100 acres in the Kalinga Nagar area and has all the amenities for developing personal, social and academic skills of the students community.
The Assembly has also passed the Odisha Town Planning and Improvement Trust (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
The Act was amended to achieve goals set under the 5T charter and the guidelines of the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) devised by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India.
The amended law will give relaxation on procedures for approval of low risk buildings, standardize the planning norms across the State and introduction of the state-of-the-art online building plan approval system across all the Urban Local Bodies of the State.
Now, the town planning system will be adopted in all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in accordance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. Provisions for demolition of unauthorised construction have been introduced under the Act.
Moreover, the Odisha Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2021 was also passed in the House. The Odisha Appropriation Acts passed during the period from 1950 to 2011 are included in this repealing Bill. In order to lessen the burden from the Statute Book, the present Bill is passed, sources said.