Arjun Confused Naveen on IIT issue: Sambad

Orissa Minister of Tourism and IT Surya Patra talks about central apathy and IIT shifting

Orissa Minister of Tourism and IT Surya Patra talks to journalists about central apathy and specifically lays out what happened with respect to the IIT shifting as well as cancellation of the plans to establish a branch campus of IIT Kharagpur in Orissa. This is reported in major papers in Orissa: Dharitri, Samaja [1,2], Sambada, Pragtivadi, Statesman etc. In Samaja it is a front-page headline.

Samaja also has an article with a picture on the protest organized by BJD in regards to the IIT issue.

Sambada: BJP does dharana in front of the Rajbhawan

CM upset on the IIT issue: various news

• Sambada
• Dharitri: 1,2
  

Various news items on MP's dharana on the parliament gate

• Samaja
• Sambada

Sambad: Orissa MPs prepares to raise IIT issue in the parliament

Sambad reports Orissa MPs prepare to raise IIT issue in the coming session of parliament.

Details in PDF

Sambada: Why a movement for establishing an IIT?

Sambada Editorial page article(pdf) by Prof. Chitta Baral. (Thanks to Sambada editor and staff for the translation.) The original article in English is available in word and pdf. Tathya.in published it in English with some editorial changes.

Sambada and Odisha.com on Agami Orissa March 18 convention (in Oriya)

Sambada and Odisha.com covered this.

Sambada (Oriya) editorial: HRD minister says IIT in Orissa is still under consideration

Today's Sambada editorial also says that the HRD minister has said that the proposal for an IIT in Orissa has not been scrapped and is still under consideration. The editorial goes on to say that however it is supicious that while the 3 IITs in the other locations have been decided no decision has been made on the one in Orissa.

Sambada (in Oriya) : IIT issue raised in Rajya Sabha

Sambada reports (in Oriya) that MP Rudra Narayana Pani raised the issue of IIT in the Rajya Sabha. This is a good first step. We hope soon the MPs will raise it in a more impactful manner and meet the HRD ministry and the PM about it.

Shifting of IIT from Orissa Opposed: Sambad

Sambada: Unhappiness spreads on the IIT issue

Sambada Editorial: Neglect beyond tolerance (obliquely refers to IIT issue)

Samaja, Sambada, Dharitri and New Indian Express report that the CM wrote to the PM regarding the shifting of IIT

The NewIndianExp article is given below. This is also reported in Pioneer, Samaja, Sambada, Kalinga Times and Dharitri (2).

CM writes to PM demanding greenfield IIT
Thursday February 1 2007 00:00 IST

BHUBANESWAR: Taking strong exception to the reported move of the Centre to shift the establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) from Orissa to Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that a greenfield IIT should be sanctioned for the State.

The Centre had announced establishment of three greenfield IITs in the country during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. Orissa was included in this proposal, which was also announced by Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development MM Fatmi on August 28 last year at Patna.

Describing the move by the Centre to establish the IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan as ‘shocking’, the Chief Minister has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in setting up such an institute in Orissa.

Establishment of an IIT would go a long way in supporting the rapid industrial growth in the State by producing highly qualified technical and managerial personnel as well as the much needed R&D support, he said.

Drawing the Prime Minister’s attention to the proposal of the IIT, Kharagpur for the upgradation of their extension centre in Orissa to a full-fledged IIT campus, Naveen said that the State Government has also formally recommended the proposal to the Ministry of HRD and conveyed willingness to provide 300 acres of land free of cost for the prestigious project. He requested the Prime Minister to sanction the extension campus also.

Stating that the vibrant growth in the industrial and technical education sectors provides enormous potential for industry and institutional linkages, Naveen said that establishment of an IIT in Orissa will greatly facilitate in intensifying this process.

Orissa is playing host to the biggest ever FDI projects in the country such as Posco and Arcelor-Mittal steel projects, he said and added that presence of such strong industrial players will definitely provide required synergy for an IIT level institution to realise its full potential.

Sambada on 29th Jan 2007 reports regarding conspiracy to shift IIT from Orissa

See http://iits.11thplan.googlepages.com/20070129sambadaiit.pdf
(In Oriya)