SOA ranked third in the country in swachh campus list

BHUBANESWAR: The Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (SOA), a deemed to be university, was adjudged as third cleanest campuses among technical institutions (residential) category in the country in the Swachh Campus Rankings, 2018. Union minister Prakash Javadekar presented the award to the university at an event in New Delhi on Monday.The ranking was given by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. SOA got a plaque and certificate from Javadekar for securing the rank.The institution is the only institution in its category from Odisha to figure in the top ten Swachh Campus rankings. It was earlier ranked 24th in the country in the university category by the National Institutional Ranking Framework and 38th among all institutions this year. It has also been re-accredited by NAAC, said university sources."Our national service scheme (NSS) volunteers are very active in our campus. They along with other students are totally committed to keep campus clean. We give importance to Swachhta and conduct cleanliness drives rigorously. Faculties also keep eye on the cleanliness of our campus," said Amit Banerjee, vice chancellor of SOA. SOA use solar power across its different campuses while putting in place facilities for rain water harvesting. The Swachh Campus Ranking is an endeavour by the central government to promote the culture of 'Swachhata' in higher educational institutions.More than 10,000 students study and conduct research in nine different institutions under the SOA. It has the disciplines of engineering, medical sciences, dental sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and biotechnology, management, legal studies, nursing, hospitality and tourism management and agricultural sciences.Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham of Tamil Nadu and IIT Guwahati secured first and second positions respectively in the Swachh Campus ranking under technical institute (residential) category. There are other categories like technical college (residential and non-residential), government universities and colleges across the country. Except SOA, not a single institute from Odisha featured in top five or 10 positions in the ranking categories.