Pragativadi on CM's letter to PM

IIT issue: Navin dashes letter to PM
Bhubaneswar: Close on the heels of the outright rejection of the Centre to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Orissa, chief minister Navin Patnaik on Thursday dashed a letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh in this connection.
The letter stated that the recent reply of Union minister of state for human resource development on the floor of the Parliament regarding establishment of IITs in the country has come as a shock to us.
Expressing deep anguish and surprise over the double entendre by the Centre in this connection, Patnaik, in his letter, reminded the prime minister of the announcement made by the Union minister of state for HRD Mohd Fatmi on August 28 last year in Patna that

Orissa was included in the proposal for three green field IITs in the 11th Five Year Plan.

It is indeed painful that this announcement has been reversed by the ministry of HRD for reasons not known to others, he noted.
Patnaik also went on saying that since Orissa has no institute of excellence in higher learning, there was a proposal to open a branch of IIT, Kharagpur, in Bhubaneswar for which the state government had promised land of nearly 300 acres.
It appears that even this proposal has been turned down, he observed.
Referring to his earlier meting with the honourable HRD minister in this connection, the chief minister said that the latter had told him that the case of Orissa can be considered for a full-fledged green field IIT.

The recent decision of government of India to locate the IITs in states which already have the benefit of many Central institutes indicates that objective criteria have not been followed in deciding the locations of the three IITs, he said, and requested the prime minister to include Orissa’s case in the 11^th Five-Year Plan.

It may be mentioned here that the ruling BJP and BJD MPs of Orissa had staged a walkout in the Parliament on Tuesday followed by a sit-in dharna in front of the Parliament on the next day in protest against the statement of Union minister of state for Human Resource Development D Purandeshwari that the Centre has no plans to set up an IIT in Orissa in near future.
They also threatened to take to the streets till the demand of the state is met by the Centre.

Pragativadi: Rally for promised IITs

Rally for promised IITs
Bhubaneswar: Voicing their demand for setting up an IIT and IIST for Orissa, the city denizens comprising academicians, social activists, scientists, lawyers and a few politicians and students on Sunday took out a protest rally in the city.

The rally, organized by Agamee Odisha, a social organization, later marched towards Raj Bhawan raising slogans and carrying placards demanding the establishment of these institutions in the state. They came down heavily on the centre for betraying the people of Orissa by promising an IIT and then backing out.

They pledged protest from all levels including the Parliament. BJD Rajya Sabha member Baijayant Panda who was one of the protestors said that the MPs would stage a dharna in front of Parliament on May 15. Stating while the Centre has sanctioned Rs 4,000 crore for an IIT each for Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajsthan, Panda said that although the Union minister of state minister for HRD M Fatmi had assured the Orissa government on August 28 last year, the assurance has remained on paper and the Centre in this process has duped the state.

Pragativadi: CM to meet PM on the IIT issue (and other issues) on April 19th.

Navin to meet PM
Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Navin Patnaik is scheduled to meet prime minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on April 19.
Patnaik, during his tour to the national capital, would discuss a host of issues with Singh pertaining to the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bidyutkaran Yojana, hike in coal royalty and establishment of IIT in the state.
The appointment of the chief minister with Singh has been finalized, official sources said here on Tuesday.

Pragativadi (in Oriya): Arjun Singh says that IIT for Orissa still under consideration

Pragativadi on 3/9/2007 reports that HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh has said that the proposal for an IIT in Orissa is still under consideration and the state government has a received a letter to that effect from Mr. Arjun Singh.

However, the headline of the Pragativadi news item "Arjun Singh assures Orissa will have an IIT" does not match with the text of the news item. Mr. Singh has only said that the proposal is still under consideration and has not been rejected. That does not mean it has been accepted. Hence, we still need to continue making our points in letters to the PM, HRD M, UPA Chairperson Mrs. Gandhi, and Orissa MPs.

(Thanks to Baijayanta babu for pointing to this news item.)