With a long hoary history of 55 years Govt. Women’s College, Balangir is a name alive and vibrant in the memory of Western Odisha and well-known for being a torch bearer in the field of women’s education. It is situated in the district headquarters of Balangir district in the Tribal belt of Odisha (KBK Districts) marked by Odisha Government as one of under-developed districts to empower Tribal women education. Thanks to its prime location girls from neighbouring districts such as Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sonepur, Bargarh, Boudh, etc. come here for their academic pursuits. It caters to the educational needs of women cutting across caste, community and categories, with the singular aims and objectives of empowering women by imparting education, and giving space to them in the main stream of the society.
Established in the year 1962 by some of the visionaries, philanthropists, educationists, social workers of the time, the institution completed 50 years of its existence and celebrated the Golden Jubilee in 2012. It is not out of place to mention the names of some of the dedicated and committed souls of the soil who conceived of this institution and let it see the light of the day. They were late Krushna Chandra Panda, the then MLA and Rajya Sabha Member, Late Yudhisthir Mishra, the Vice-Chancellor of Sambalpur University, Sri Tribhuban Das Raghavji Bhamar, an altruist of iconic status, Sri Prasanna Pujahari, Sri Balabhadra Panigrahi, the then Rajya Sabha Member, Late Narasingha Prasad Nanda and many others.
Initially it was affiliated to Utkal University and then to Sambalpur University in the year 1967 and to Rajendra University in 2020. The college was primarily under private management and was taken over by the government of Odisha on 1st October 1965. In the beginning it was started in Sundara Kumari Ladies’ Club (named after the Maharani of Patna State) and later on it was shifted to the local Panchayat Bhawan. Today the college is proud of having an independent and magnificent building of its own with staff quarters and three hostels. Now the student strength of the college has gone up to nearly 1500.
Now the college is affiliated to Sambalpur University and was recognized by the UGC under section 2 (f) and 12 (B) of the UGC Act 1956
True to its vision, the institution aims at nurturing the students, so that they can be academically sound, physically active, mentally alert and innovative, culturally equipped and socially responsible citizens. The college has made a steady progress with the introduction of courses like B.A pass and Hons. In the year 1979 the college could not take in all the interested applicants for admission into 1st year I.A and B.A. So, the Govt. was kind enough to increase the number of seats from 96 to 128 in I.A and 64 to 80 in B.A classes. Again the number of seats in +2 was increased up to 192 in 1986-87 and 256 in 1989-90. Accordingly, the no. of seats in B.A classes was increased up to 256. Keeping in view the demand of the public the Government increased 20% of seats in the year 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2016-17.
So now the sanctioned student strength of the college in accordance with the 10+2+3 pattern of education is nearly 1500. The +2 and +3 classes were started in the college from 1983-84 and 1985-86 respectively. Consequent upon the separation of +2 & +3 wings in 2001, the +2 wing is named as Govt. Women’s Junior College, Balangir and science stream at +2 level with subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics were started from the session 2015-16.
The college was initially imparting Honours teachings in 08 subjects i.e. English, Odia, Sanskrit, History, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Home Science since 1967. With the approval of Government of Odisha, Science stream at +3 level and 03 Post Graduate Courses are opened in 2023-24 session. Now, the college is offering 18 degree courses and 03 Post Graduate courses in History, Sanskrit and Odia.
The college building nestles on a campus measuring 3.10 Acres with a build in area of 15042 Sq. mtrs. It has 3 spacious lecture halls, 13 mini class rooms, 6 Science Lab, Language Lab, Computer Lab, one reading Room, one Auditorium, Gymnasium, Air-conditioned Conference Hall, and a SAMS Lab.
The student community in the college consists of academically bright and average students. It also includes the students belonging to privileged sections, economically weaker sections, SC, ST, Minority classes etc. Equal opportunities and consideration are given to all the students regardless of their backgrounds, so that they can have an access to learning facilities, support services, etc.
The students participate and excel in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The last five years show the records of students being rank holders in the University Examinations. Besides, students bag prizes at district, state levels. Their achievements in sports have been equally spectacular as many of them have brought laurels to the college winning awards, medals, Trophies at University level.
The NCC, NSS, Youth Red Cross (Red Ribbon Club), Self Defense Training and Yoga teacher undertake activities to sensitize students towards the needs of the different sections of the society vulnerable to the harmful habits/effects and different dreaded diseases.
The institution has committees and cells for anti-ragging, anti-sexual harassment, grievance redressal, SC-ST rights cell, etc. The college has a registered Alumni Association and a Humanities Society (Kala Parishad). The Institution publishes the annual Magazine “Ananya” and the wall Magazine “Nirjharini”.