Ravenshaw revokes decision to confer honoris causa on business honcho

BHUBANESWAR: Ravenshaw Universityhonoris causa has scrapped its decision to confer an honorary PhD degree on industrialist Shobhana Bhartia following a controversy over her selection. The university will hold its convocation on Monday.
"The decision has been kept in abeyance after a news article published in an English daily owned by her was perceived to be hurting Odia sentiments," Ravenshaw vice-chancellor Baishnab Charana Tripathy told TOI on Sunday.
Tripathy said though Bhartia was not in any way responsible for the publication of the article, university chancellor governor M C Bhandare took the decision honouring public sentiments. The Kalinga Sena had threatened to stage a protest if Bhartia was given the degree and her selection had invited criticism from various other quarters.
The nine other luminaries who will receive honorary PhD degrees on Monday are attorney general G E Vahanvati, former Supreme Court judge Justice Debapriya Mahapatra, former UPSC chairman P Hota, freedom fighter Baishnab Charan Patnaik, IISc-Bangalore director P Balaram, chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra, science fiction writer Gokulananda Mahapatra and Sai devotee Chandrabhanu Satapathy.
Controversy regarding the choice of persons for conferring honorary doctorate degrees is nothing new in the state. Earlier this year, Utkal University had withheld an honorary degree to Manu Bhai Patel, president of Lok Sevak Mandal, which runs Odia newspaper Samaj, following allegation of corruption against him. The university had also courted controversy by organizing a second convocation in New Delhi to award honorary degree on two persons who could not make it to the varsity convocation on March 2, 2012. The university had announced honorary degrees for Supreme Court judge Justice Ananga Pattanaik, special public prosecutor U U Lalit, industrialist Bansidhar Panda, cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr Ramakanta Panda, solicitor general Rohinton Nariman and former solicitor general Harish Salve. While the former four attended the 44th convocation at the varsity and received the degrees, Nariman and Salve could not make it to the convocation then. The university held the second convocation to confer honoris causa on the duo at Odisha Bhawan in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri on April 22. The move had annoyed the entire varsity fraternity who felt a second convocation away from the varsity lowers its standing.
Sambalpur University too had organized a similar second convocation in New Delhi for selected candidates including former attorney general Deepankar Gupta in 2010 inviting criticism from educationists.
Members of civil society had staged a protest in Berhampur on April 30 protesting Berhampur University's list of selected candidates for honorary degrees. Three members of Parliament, including leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, leading advocate Iqbal Chagla, woman activists V Mohini Giri, member of Planning Commission Syed A S Hameed, MPs from Odisha -- Sidhant Mohapatra (Berhampur) and Pinaki Mishra (Puri), sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik, "Sambad" editor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, ardent devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba Chandrabhanu Satapathy, cardiologist Kabi Prasad Mishra were among those selected by the university for the honorary degree. The protesters had opposed selection of personalities from outside the state, who had no contribution to the state.
Incidentally, there have been a number of legal personalities among the around 50 persons offered honoris causa during the tenure of Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare as chancellor of universities. Bhandare was earlier a Supreme Court lawyer.
Educationists question the way honorary degrees are being given. "Honoris causa is no doubt an honour. It should be given to people who really have significant contribution to the society, more particularly to this state," said Jayant Das, president of Orissa High Court Bar Association. The list of personalities should also be from varied fields. But unfortunately legal professionals, that too from outside the state, got prominence in selection during past few years, Das added.
Karunakar Supakar, a former syndicate member of Sambalpur University, said a transparent selection committee should be formed to select people for honoary degrees. "It is unfortunate that several candidates other than those selected by the selection committees were getting degrees," Supkar added.