NLU Odisha ‘reaching out to the world’ with new law courses, foreign partnerships: VC

NEW DELHI: Many changes are in the offing for National Law University Odisha. The NLU is exploring numerous foreign collaborations; will set up an incubation cell; has introduced new programmes; and recast a vocation programme into an employment-oriented BA (Law). “Internationalisation is the key and focus of our future activities,” vice-chancellor Ved Kumari told Careers360. Edited excerpts from the conversation below.

Q. NLU Odisha offered a B.Voc programme. Why was it discontinued?

A. This was a central government scheme. We had admitted one batch for the programme, but had to discontinue it as people did not know what this course was about and its terminology. Now, we have revamped the programme on similar lines but with a different name. We call this the BA (Law) programme. It is like any other honours course but the focus is on creating job-ready graduates in five areas that are connected with law.

This was originally focussed on creating paralegal volunteers. Now, we offer specialisations in legal journalism, legal counsellors, advocacy, legal professional assistants and law and entrepreneurship. There is one compulsory paper of law and one programme for interpersonal skills; a second set of courses will be on technical skills. This is the new avatar of our BVoc programme.

Q. What is NLU Odisha’s eligibility criteria for these BA Law programmes?

A. For BA Law programmes, students can come from any stream. We have an exit option also. If a student exits after one year, they will get a certificate of law; if they complete the second year, they will get a diploma. If they complete all three years, they will get a graduation degree. It is also open for people who want to take a standalone course – only stenography or only MS Word.

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Q. There have been incidents of two student suicides. What happened and have you taken steps to address the issue?

A. We have an online, 24-hour counselling service. We have a permanent full-time counsellor in the university. We have now made it compulsory for first-year students to stay in a double-sharing room in the hostel so that students can keep track of each other. We are also taking measures proactively to ensure no child is left alone, especially in the first year.

Q. You have led Delhi University’s law faculty before. How is leading a NLU different?

A. There were lots of constraints when I was the dean of the department (in DU). Vice chancellors take decisions. Since I am the VC here, it is easier to bring about changes. Since the fee is lower in DU, we have a whole range of people. Here, too, students come from different backgrounds but many of them are taking loans to study or are on fellowships.

The number of students also makes a difference. DU’s law faculty alone had 9,000 students. There are a huge number of teachers as well. Here, the number of students is smaller. The entire university consists of 1,000 students. Students are also three years younger than the DU students. So they are more anxious of being on their own for the first time.

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Q. How does NLU Odisha do with placements?

A. Not everybody is looking at getting placed through the university.

Last year, 85% of the students applied for placement through the university and all got placed. Now we have started attracting tier-1 companies as well. We have our alumni in some of these companies and that improves placements.

We have completed 10 batches already. We now have alumni across the country.

Q. Any plans for NLU Odisha?

A. Expansion. We have introduced BA (Law) and have also added two new programmes in the last two years. There are lots of changes in the pipeline. We have introduced a choice-based credit system. Our students are attracting good research funding.

We are exploring areas of mutual law projects and research with the School of Law, Warwick University; University College, London; and King’s College, London. We are attracting foreign professionals for our research centres and journals. Internationalisation is the keyword and focus of our future activities. We are reaching out to the world.

Q. Tell us about research activities in NLU Odisha.

A. We have two international projects – one is with the Netherlands which is about domestic violence in Odisha, and the other is on anti-tobacco awareness, with a Paris-based group called ‘The Union’. We have started many projects with the National Commission for Women and also projects that focus on consumer protection. Another project is on migration workers, funded by the state government, and we are also working with the labour department. We will be applying to the central government soon for a grant to build an incubation cell. Students are a part of all the research activities of the university. We have 21 research centres.

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NLU Odisha has one programme called the legal aid course which is very unique. We have a full-time person for our legal aid clinic as well. They have adopted three villages in our neighbourhood. One of the two clinics functions in the campus and the other in a village.

Our students are also involved in a lot of outreach programmes. They have a negotiation and mediation centre and 20 of our teachers are trained in mediation. We have written to the mediation cell of the Odisha High Court to empanel our teachers. This apart, our legal aid para clinic has adopted five villages. Our students also support about eight villages. We are focussing on transforming these villages into child-friendly villages.