Ravenshaw University came into existence on the 15th day of November,2006. It was an upgradation of Ravenshaw College established in1868, one of the oldest and largest colleges in the country. The history of this great institution is, in a manner of speaking, the history of modern Odisha.It was the cradle of ideas fostering national unity and nationalism, promoting social mobilization & gearing up
the freedom struggle. Economics Department one of the oldest teaching Department . of Ravenshaw has its own identity across the country in the sphere of higher education.The Department with all its glorious academic achievement & ceaseless scholastic pursuits had already created a distinct niche for itself in India and beyond.It has produced eminent economists , scholars .academician ,administrator ,social worker , political leader and many more. Department of Economics of Ravenshaw University and erstwhile Ravenshaw College is a pretty old department so to say a heritage institution being set up in the year 1931. As the department had been established during the pre-independence period, initially for a couple of years, the British educationists occupied the position of the head of the department and they were instrumental in laying the strong foundation of the Department. Later on eminent economists like Prof. Sadasiv Mishra, Prof. Devendra Chandra Misra and Prof. Khetra Mohan Patnaik adorned the chair of Head of the Department and under their leadership the department achieved the glory of one of the best departments in the state as well as the country. The students of the Department were once upon a time considered as the best brains in the country. Now the department is in the transition phase from the legacy of a college to a unitary university. In this transformation phase the department is managing the huge teaching and administrative work load with 2 Professors, 2 Visiting Professors, 1 reader, 6 lecturers and 1 contractual lecturer. The total student strength of the department is nearly 700 with 84 seats at PG level and 112 seats at Honours level. is also offering M. Phil course with student intake capacity of 08 and Ph. D course with 8 seats. The syllabus of the department has been modified recently as per the U.G.C. guidelines and experts from DSE and JNU. Our students can compete at national level with students of other states. The department has also started a new career oriented study programme M.A. in Rural Development with intake capacity of 40 students along with Ph. D programme since 2010. The objective of offering this course is to create committed and competent rural development managers in the state to increase agricultural productivity and promote rural prosperity. The department is bringing out the seminar bulletin Arthatathya since 2011 containing activities of the department and articles on contemporary topical economic issues contributed by students and faculty members. This bulletin is released on the occasion of the Annual Function of the Department. Moreover, the department has also taken steps for publication of an annual research journal Ravenshaw Journal of Economics.
