‘Next major task is to connect alumni with alma mater through our mobile app’

Akash Das Nayak, chief of the government’s Mo College initiative, speaks to Minati Singha on transforming colleges into quality higher educational institutes
How has the progress of the Mo College initiative been so far?
It was formally launched by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in March. A total of 755 government and government-aided universities, degree colleges and professional institutes have been included in the scheme and Mo College committees have also been formed to ensure its execution.
What will be your next course of action?
The next major task is to connect the alumni with the colleges and universities they passed out from. Many of them hold plum positions in their workplaces or in society and are keen to give back or support their alma mater. We want to bring all of them under the Mo College umbrella. We are also developing a mobile app, which will help connect them easily.
How can someone contribute to the development of his or her college?
There are three types of contributions — financial, academic or intellectual and industry connect. For any financial contribution, the state government will provide double its amount to the institute concerned. Former students can provide academic support by taking online classes or participating in webinars or giving expert advice as part of our ‘Meet the Alumni’ programme that every college is planning to conduct once a month. The third and final contribution is through industry connect through which the alumni will held the students of their college get exposure.
What are the major areas of concern?
I feel there is no dearth of talent in Odisha, but there is a lack of self-confidence in youngsters owing to no proper guidance in terms of counselling and skill training. We have planned to set up polishing schools to develop their soft skills and personalities. Our youngsters are full of energy. So it is very important to give them the right exposure. The Mo College aims to do that. Besides, we are also focusing on the digitisation of institutions and on other such steps to attract students to libraries and playgrounds.
Mo School, which is an alumni connect initiative for schools, has received a very good response. Do you think the progress of Mo College has been less compared to the former?
There can’t be any comparison between the two initiatives because their objective is the same — to give back to the alma mater. Mo School started four years before us and has done extremely well. We are learning from them and taking help wherever needed.