Say no to betel stains on campus: North Orissa University VC

BHUBANESWAR: North Orissa University (NOU), Baripada, students who approach the varsity administration with any grievance will get a sermon on not to spit on campus and inside the hostel buildings after chewing betel leaf as a precondition for redressal of their problems.
Vice chancellor P K Mishra, who has taken this decision, said that although NOU was a comparatively new university, corridors of particularly the superbly designed hostel buildings were an eyesore because of the betel stains."No amount of cleaning can restore a shiny look unless the students are sensitized to stop spitting in the corridors and dissuade others from doing so," Mishra told TOI.
As the varsity re-opened after summer vacation on Friday, various student groups came to meet the VC, who has taken over only recently, with their grievances. "I am telling each of them that I would consider their demands favourably. In return, I am asking them for a favour: to get actively involved in making the campus walls free of betel stains. It looks so ugly," he said.
A group of students asked the VC to consider opening an advanced centre for Santali language. "I told them it would definitely be considered. But they have to cooperate in keeping the campus wear a neat look free of betel stains. They have promised to be involved in an initiative against betel chewers painting the walls red," Mishra said.
Mishra said that though there can't be any incentive or disincentive even if the students don't toe the line, the varsity authorities would continue to sensitize the students towards the hygiene practice so that the picturesque Sriram Chandra Vihar campus surrounded by green forests remains a visual delight. The Similipal Tiger Reserve is only 25 km from NOU while the picturesque waterfall Debkund and "sacred" pool Bhimkund is close to the campus.
Established in 1998, NOU has three hostels, two for girls and one for boys, at present, accommodating 150 girls and 100 boys. Two other girls' hostels are under construction. The varsity has a total strength of 2,000 students.