Central University of Orissa

The Central University of Orissa has been established by the Parliament under the Central Universities Act, 2009 (No. 3C of 2009). It is one of the 15 new Central Universities established by the Government of India during the UGC XI Plan period to address the concerns of "equity and access" and as per the policy of the Government of India to increase the access to quality higher education by people in less educationally developed districts which have a Graduate Enrollment Ratio of less than the national average of 11%. Koraput District of Orissa comes within the KBK region (Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi) which is still considered as an extremely as underdeveloped region of the State of Orissa .These three districts of the State are known for tribal culture, because majority of the people here belong to ST and SC categories. Since there is no University or any other national level educational set up in this region the Central University is proposed to be established here so that it may widen the access to quality higher education in the country.

Vision of the university:

• To develop the Central University of Orissa as an avant-grade premier University of the new millennium with a world-ethos-driven higher education agenda.
• To develop an University which strike a balance between teaching and scholarship and commitment to addressing society's educational, economic, and cultural challenges.
• To develop the University with research as its flagship identity to foster, nurture and inculcate a research culture.
• To collaborate/ forge academic alliance/partnership with flagship research institutes, universities and industries in India and abroad as envisaged in the UNESCO document.
• To create skilled workforce which can erase the invariable divide between the rural and urban needs, between the needs of the home and overseas?
• To develop a knowledge base that brings a holistic balance between indigenous needs and that of global needs.

Mission of the university:

• Provide quality education for all, so that we may fortify the backbone of the nation.
• Disseminate 'inclusive education' to reach the unreached.
• Advocate a wholesome symbiosis of the indigenous and the global scene.
• Uphold a strongly grounded holistic worldview of the higher education.
• Create a niche of its own.

Central University of Orissa has signed an MoUs with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Sunabeda, a leading Navaratna PSU, for promoting academics, research and regional development through partnership. Under this programme, ‘Distinguished Lecture Series’ have been initiated by inviting persons of eminence from various fields of Science, Technology, Literature, Humanities and Management, etc. for academic enrichment. Besides, CUO has also signed MoU with Council of Analytical Tribal Studies (COATS), Koraput, a leading research institute devoted to tribal economy, livelihood, society and culture. A National Seminar has been organised on tribal issues and challenges collaboratively.

In order to bring positive transformation in the neighbourhood areas and under MHRD initative, the Central University of Orissa (CUO) has adopted five villages under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA). It is a movement that connects institutes of higher learning with the local community to address development of rural India through appropriate academic, social and technological intervention.

The University has already conducted a number of health, education and sanitation awareness programmes for the villagers as well as art and craft programme for school children. Besides, the University proposes to conduct skill development programmes in the adopted villages for empowerment towards livelihood security and improvement of the living standards of the villagers. For implementation and monitoring of the UBA programme in the CUO, an MoU has been signed with IIT (Delhi)