Showing posts with label parliament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parliament. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Dharitri: The minister had spoken the truth
Dharitri reports that the minister answering the no call motion had said that upon the advice of teh scientific advisory committee an IIT is to be established in “Orissa”, but then she corrected herself and said “Bihar”. More interstingly, she also said that Minister Fatmi never said that an IIT will be established in Orissa. However, Minister Mr. Fatmi was in the Lok Sabha at that time and he was silent even when the Orissa MPs were looking at him for an answer.
Statesman: MPs’ protest over IIT issue
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, May 9: BJD and BJP MPs of Orissa staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament House today demanding establishment of an IIT in the state and denouncing the apathetic attitude of the HRD ministry.
Orissa does not have any institute of national repute ~ that is ~ IIT, IIM IIIT or ISI (Indian Statistical Institute), they said.
Yesterday, the demand of these MPs had been rejected by the minister in Parliament and they had staged a walkout after raising the issue through call attention notices.
Orissa is on the path of rapid industrialisation and an IIT would go a long way to help in its economic development by producing highly qualified technical and managerial personnel and also provide the much-needed research and development support, said the protesting MPs.
Mr Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Mr Baijayant Panda, Dr Prasanna Patsani, Prasanna Acharya, Bhatruhari Mahatab, Arjun Sethi, Mohan Jena, Brahma Nanda Panda, Sugrib Singh, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Pramila Bohidar ( all BJD), R N Pani, P Majhi, Juel Oram, D Pradhan, S Lath and Bhagirathi Majhi (all BJP) staged the protest.
Mr Sukhdev Singn Dhindsa of Siromani Akali Dal joined in support.
Mr Baijayant Panda, leader of the BJD in Rajya Sabha, maintained that such step-motherly attitude of the Centre had upset the people of Orissa and they will continue to voice their demand.
Significantly, none of the Congress MPs joined the protest, although the BJD-BJP combine had reportedly called upon all MP’s from Orissa, irrespective of party affiliations, to stage a joint protest.
Meanwhile, chief minister Naveen Patnaik described the Centre’s rejection of Orissa’s demand for an IIT as “unfortunate,” while BJP leader Mr Biswabhusan Harichandan said his party would take to the streets on this issue. Interestingly, some of the Congress leaders at the state level felt that the state deserved to have a IIT.
BHUBANESWAR, May 9: BJD and BJP MPs of Orissa staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament House today demanding establishment of an IIT in the state and denouncing the apathetic attitude of the HRD ministry.
Orissa does not have any institute of national repute ~ that is ~ IIT, IIM IIIT or ISI (Indian Statistical Institute), they said.
Yesterday, the demand of these MPs had been rejected by the minister in Parliament and they had staged a walkout after raising the issue through call attention notices.
Orissa is on the path of rapid industrialisation and an IIT would go a long way to help in its economic development by producing highly qualified technical and managerial personnel and also provide the much-needed research and development support, said the protesting MPs.
Mr Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Mr Baijayant Panda, Dr Prasanna Patsani, Prasanna Acharya, Bhatruhari Mahatab, Arjun Sethi, Mohan Jena, Brahma Nanda Panda, Sugrib Singh, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Pramila Bohidar ( all BJD), R N Pani, P Majhi, Juel Oram, D Pradhan, S Lath and Bhagirathi Majhi (all BJP) staged the protest.
Mr Sukhdev Singn Dhindsa of Siromani Akali Dal joined in support.
Mr Baijayant Panda, leader of the BJD in Rajya Sabha, maintained that such step-motherly attitude of the Centre had upset the people of Orissa and they will continue to voice their demand.
Significantly, none of the Congress MPs joined the protest, although the BJD-BJP combine had reportedly called upon all MP’s from Orissa, irrespective of party affiliations, to stage a joint protest.
Meanwhile, chief minister Naveen Patnaik described the Centre’s rejection of Orissa’s demand for an IIT as “unfortunate,” while BJP leader Mr Biswabhusan Harichandan said his party would take to the streets on this issue. Interestingly, some of the Congress leaders at the state level felt that the state deserved to have a IIT.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
IIT for Orissa: NDA stages walkout
Express News Service
Posted online: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 0000 hrs 
NEW DELHI, MAY 8: Standing up for Orissa’s demand for an Indian Institute of Technology, the BJP-led NDA members staged a walkout on the issue in the Lok Sabha as the Government said there were no plans for setting up the technical institute in the state.The walkout took place after the matter was raised in a calling attention motion in the afternoon session on Tuesday, where BJD and BJP members—among them B K Tripathy, B Mahtab, K Swain, Prasanna Acharya and Dharmendra Pradhan—pointed out that despite a demand for the institute in Orissa, an IIT had not been set up.
The agitated Opposition members even warned that with its coal and iron ore deposits, Orissa could disrupt power supply to other states, but people in the state believed in cooperation.
Tripathy, the BJD’s leader in the House, claimed the state had fallen victim to politicking even though, according to him, the need to set up an IIT in Orissa had been proposed in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. Besides, IIT Kharagpur had approved the setting up of a full-fledged campus in the state, for which the Orissa government had promised to give land free of cost. “Will a greenfield IIT be located in the state? Why is there politicking? This is nasty politics,” Tripathy said, adding that an IIM should also be set up in the state.
Replying to the calling attention, Minister of State for Human Resources D Purandareswari said while every state would want an IIT, which was a global brand, three regions had been identified on the basis of a report presented C N R Rao. Under those proposals, the IIT in the eastern region would be set up in Bihar.
Regarding the proposal from IIT Kharagpur, she said the expansion would entail huge monetary commitment and it had been decided by the government that it should instead “consolidate” the other IITs. “We haven’t accepted the proposal of IIT Kharagpur,” the Minister said.
As she proceeded to read out a list of educational institutions in the state that were receiving Central assistance—it was in answer to criticism that the state was being discriminated against—the NDA members began protesting, claiming the assistance was paltry. At this BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra rose to say, “There has been injustice against Orissa,” and led the NDA camp in a walkout.
BJ Panda in Statesman: Orissa is being continuously neglected by the Centre, especially by the ministry of HRD
Centre rules out IIT in Orissa
Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI, May 8: The government today ruled out setting up an Indian Institute of Technology in Orissa, saying it has already approved three such institutes in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Replying to a Calling Attention Motion moved by MPs from Orissa demanding an Indian Institute of Technology, minister of state for human resource development Ms D Purandeshwari said the three new IITs were decided on recommendations of the Planning Commission and Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council.
Raising the issue, Mr Brij Kishore Tripathy (Biju Janata Dal) said the government had initially approved setting up of an IIT in Orissa but later changed the decision.
“Minister of state for HRD Mr Mohd Fatmi had said in August 2006 in Patna that an Indian Institute of Technology would be set up in Orissa. Then, why was the decision changed,” Mr Tripathy asked.
However, Ms Purandeshwari said Mr Fatmi has denied having made such a statement. A new Indian Institute of Technology would cost over Rs 1,000 crore, she said adding the government had never decided to set up such an institute in Orissa.
Dissatisfied with her reply, BJP and BJD members staged a walkout.
Besides an Indian Institute of Technology, Mr Tripathy demanded an Indian Institute of Management and asked the government to approve a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
Mr B Mehtab of the BJD said the UPA government had been ignoring Orissa and sought to know how much funds the human resource development ministry had spent for higher education in the state.
BJP member Mr Kharbela Swain asked the government what was the criterion for selecting locations for new IITs, while BJD’s Mr Prasanna Acharya said with many new industrial projects coming up, Orissa needed an Indian Institute of Technology for skilled manpower.
Call for dharna
Meanwhile, the BJD Rajya Sabha leader, Mr Baijayant Panda, has requested all MPs from Orissa, irrespective of party affiliation, to be join a sit-in dharna near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of Parliament tomorrow for an IIT in the state, SNS adds from Bhubaneswar.
All BJD-BJP MPs from Orissa have decided to stage a dharna and others from the state are invited to join, he said.
Orissa is being continuously neglected by the Centre, especially by the ministry of HRD, said Mr Panda. In spite of the declaration by the HRD minister of state to have two IITs in Orissa last year, the Centre has decided to have three new IITs in Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
It is unfortunate that Orissa’s longstanding demand for Central institutes like Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management continues to be ignored by the Central government, he observed.
Tathya.in: IIT Orissa hits Central wall
New Delhi:8/May/2007
Though today they have lost a battle but are hopeful of winning a war.
Members of the Lok Sabha from Orissa fought a united battle over the most emotive issue-setting up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the state.
Both BJD and BJP members joined hands to put pressure on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to revise its decision over IIT in Orissa.
Raising the issue over a calling attention motion in Lok Sabha on May 8 here, Braja Kishore Tripathy (BJD) said the central government had initially approved setting up of an IIT in Orissa but later changed the decision on political considerations.
He said that the Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) M M Fatmi, who announced at Patna in August 2006 that an IIT will be set up in Orissa.
The BJD MP asked then why the decision was changed at a later stage.
Besides an IIT, Mr. Tripathy demanded an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and asked the UPA government to approve a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab alleged that the UPA government has been ignoring Orissa over economic and social development.
He wanted to know the amount of investment of central funds for the development of education in the backward state by the HRD Ministry.
BJD's Prasana Acharya said with the huge investment percolating to Orissa to set up mega industrial projects, the justification for an IIT and IIM is a foregone conclusion.
Mr.Achrya demanded a special treatment for the educationally backward state like Orissa from the HRD Ministry.
BJP member Mahameghabahan Aira Kharbela Swain also demanding the IIT, he asked the government what the criteria for selecting locations for new IITs are.
Jual Oram from BJP also expressed concern about the callousness of the Centre in neglecting the educationally backward state like Orissa.
The government Tuesday ruled out setting up an IIT in Orissa, saying it has already approved three such institutes in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Replying to the issues raised by the MPs, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeshwari ruled out setting up an IIT in Orissa.
She said the three new IITs were decided on recommendations of the Planning Commission and Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council.
However, Mrs. Purandeshwari said Mr. Fatmi has never made such a statement.
She said that a new IIT would cost over Rs 1,000 crore, adding the government had never decided to set up such an institution in Orissa.
Dissatisfied with her reply, BJP and BJD along with the other NDA members staged a walkout.
Later speaking to media BJP MP Mr.Oram said that as the UPA government setting up the educational institutions on political considerations, we will continue to hammer the government over the issue of IIT-Orissa till the demand is fulfilled.
He said “we are hopeful of winning the war, though we have lost a battle today as the people of Orissa are behind us”.
Though today they have lost a battle but are hopeful of winning a war.
Members of the Lok Sabha from Orissa fought a united battle over the most emotive issue-setting up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the state.
Both BJD and BJP members joined hands to put pressure on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to revise its decision over IIT in Orissa.
Raising the issue over a calling attention motion in Lok Sabha on May 8 here, Braja Kishore Tripathy (BJD) said the central government had initially approved setting up of an IIT in Orissa but later changed the decision on political considerations.
He said that the Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) M M Fatmi, who announced at Patna in August 2006 that an IIT will be set up in Orissa.
The BJD MP asked then why the decision was changed at a later stage.
Besides an IIT, Mr. Tripathy demanded an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and asked the UPA government to approve a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab alleged that the UPA government has been ignoring Orissa over economic and social development.
He wanted to know the amount of investment of central funds for the development of education in the backward state by the HRD Ministry.
BJD's Prasana Acharya said with the huge investment percolating to Orissa to set up mega industrial projects, the justification for an IIT and IIM is a foregone conclusion.
Mr.Achrya demanded a special treatment for the educationally backward state like Orissa from the HRD Ministry.
BJP member Mahameghabahan Aira Kharbela Swain also demanding the IIT, he asked the government what the criteria for selecting locations for new IITs are.
Jual Oram from BJP also expressed concern about the callousness of the Centre in neglecting the educationally backward state like Orissa.
The government Tuesday ruled out setting up an IIT in Orissa, saying it has already approved three such institutes in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Replying to the issues raised by the MPs, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeshwari ruled out setting up an IIT in Orissa.
She said the three new IITs were decided on recommendations of the Planning Commission and Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council.
However, Mrs. Purandeshwari said Mr. Fatmi has never made such a statement.
She said that a new IIT would cost over Rs 1,000 crore, adding the government had never decided to set up such an institution in Orissa.
Dissatisfied with her reply, BJP and BJD along with the other NDA members staged a walkout.
Later speaking to media BJP MP Mr.Oram said that as the UPA government setting up the educational institutions on political considerations, we will continue to hammer the government over the issue of IIT-Orissa till the demand is fulfilled.
He said “we are hopeful of winning the war, though we have lost a battle today as the people of Orissa are behind us”.
Govt rules out IIT in Orissa
New Delhi, May 08, 2007
First Published: 22:18 IST(8/5/2007)
Last Updated: 22:21 IST(8/5/2007)
The government on Tuesday turned down the demand for setting up an IIT in Orissa saying that it had already granted approval for three such institutes in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Amid loud protests from MPS from Orissa, Minister of State for HRD D Purandeshwari told the Lok Sabha that the location of the three new IITs had been decided on the basis of recommendations made by the Planning Commission and Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council.
BJD member Brij Kishore Tripathy, who raised the issue in a calling attention motion, deplored that Orissa did not have a single central institution of higher education and had been neglected for long. Besides an IIT, he also demanded an IIM for the state and asked the government to approve a proposal by IIT Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
He claimed that the government had initially cleared an IIT for the state but changed its decision later. Minister of State for HRD, Mohammad Fatmi had stated as much in Patna last year, Tripathy said.
However, Purandeshwari asserted that Fatmi had denied having made any such statement. Setting up a new IIT would involve an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore besides the cost of acquiring land, she stated.
Concern was also expressed on the issue by other BJD members like Bhartruhari Mehtab and Prasanna Acharya besides Kharabela Swain of BJP.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the minister’s reply,the NDA members staged a walkout from the House.
TOI: Govt says no to an IIT in Orissa
NEW DELHI: The government Tuesday ruled out setting up an IIT in Orissa, saying it has already approved three such institutes in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Replying to a Calling Attention Motion moved by MPs from Orissa demanding an Indian Institute of Technology, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeshwari said the three new IITs were decided on recommendations of the Planning Commission and Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council.
Raising the issue, Brij Kishore Tripathy (BJD) said the government had initially approved setting up of an IIT in Orissa but later changed the decision.
"Minister of State for HRD Mohd Fatmi had said in August 2006 in Patna that an IIT will be set up in Orissa... then why the decision was changed?" Tripathy asked.
However, Purandeshwari said Fatmi has denied having made such a statement. A new IIT would cost over Rs 1,000 crore, she said adding the government had never decided to set up such an institute in Orissa.
Dissatisfied with her reply, BJP and BJD members staged a walkout.
Besides an IIT, Tripathy demanded an Indian Institute of Management and asked the government to approve a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
B Mehtab (BJD) said the UPA government has been ignoring Orissa and sought to know how much funds the HRD ministry had spent for higher education in the state.
BJP member Kharbela Swain asked the government what the criteria was for selecting locations for new IITs, while BJD's Prasanna Acharya said with many new industrial projects coming up, Orissa needed an IIT for skilled manpower.
Replying to a Calling Attention Motion moved by MPs from Orissa demanding an Indian Institute of Technology, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeshwari said the three new IITs were decided on recommendations of the Planning Commission and Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council.
Raising the issue, Brij Kishore Tripathy (BJD) said the government had initially approved setting up of an IIT in Orissa but later changed the decision.
"Minister of State for HRD Mohd Fatmi had said in August 2006 in Patna that an IIT will be set up in Orissa... then why the decision was changed?" Tripathy asked.
However, Purandeshwari said Fatmi has denied having made such a statement. A new IIT would cost over Rs 1,000 crore, she said adding the government had never decided to set up such an institute in Orissa.
Dissatisfied with her reply, BJP and BJD members staged a walkout.
Besides an IIT, Tripathy demanded an Indian Institute of Management and asked the government to approve a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur to set up an extension campus in Bhubaneswar.
B Mehtab (BJD) said the UPA government has been ignoring Orissa and sought to know how much funds the HRD ministry had spent for higher education in the state.
BJP member Kharbela Swain asked the government what the criteria was for selecting locations for new IITs, while BJD's Prasanna Acharya said with many new industrial projects coming up, Orissa needed an IIT for skilled manpower.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
MP Kharabela Swain demanded for IIT in Orissa in the parliament
Friday, April 27, 2007
MPs and the IIT Orissa issue in the parliament
Pdf (2 MB) at: http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/iit-orissa-booklet-mps.pdf
Word document (500 KB) at: http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/iit-orissa-booklet-mps.doc
Compilation of news items (9 MB): http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/Binder1.pdf
Digambara Patra's compilation of national labs distribution across India:
http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/state_wise_national_lab.pdf
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The text part of "IIT in Orissa: talking points"
IIT in Orissa: talking points
Following are some points that can be used to convince the other MPs, the PM, the planning commission etc. that the issue of an IIT in Orissa is an extremely important one; it has caused a lot of strife in Orissa; and appropriate amendments must be made at the earliest.
1. Our strongest point: A green field IIT in Orissa and a branch campus of IIT Kharagpur in Bhubaneswar had been decided in MHRD, so much so that On August 28th 2006, Union minister of state for Human Resources and Development Mr. M. Fatmi said the following Patna. (This was reported in Times of India on Aug 29th 2006, and available for everyone to see at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1933613.cms and http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/PUmayfinallygetCentralvarsitystatus-.pdf )
2. Is this the India we want where newspaper headlines scream:
3 IITs for Andhra and none for Orissa.
The three IITs for Andhra here refer to the greenfield IIT that has been announced and the announcements that Andha University Engineering College and Osmania University engineering colleges will be upgraded to IIT clones (to be called IIEST – Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology.) We should brandish copies of the news item that has the headlines "3 IITs for Andhra and none for Orissa" to other MPs, planning commission, and the PM.
3. Does MHRD think that Orissa is not a part of India?
Why does it repeatedly takes away institutes that have been announced for Orissa?
Why does not it pay attention that Orissa is among the bottom three in per-capita spending by MHRD on fully-MHRD-funded institutions?
A rough calculation detailed at http://equitableindia.org showed that MHRD was scheduled to spend Rs 4.07 on fully funded HRD institutions (like IITs, IIMs, etc.) per person in Orissa, while it will spend Rs 183.08 in Delhi, Rs 41.20 in West Bengal, Rs 33.4 in Karnataka, Rs 27 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 28.38 in Maharastra, Rs 17.73 in UP, Rs 16.05 in Andhra, Rs 33.27 in Punjab, Rs 8.13 in Haryana, Rs 7.90 in Kerala, Rs 9.02 in MP, Rs 4.87 in Gujurat, Rs 2.59 in Rajasthan, and Rs 1.87 in Bihar. In other words Bihar, Rajasthan and Orissa were at the bottom of per-capita spending by MHRD in its fully funded higher education institutions. Now that IITs have been allotted to Bihar and Rajasthan, it is imperative that the next IIT should have been allotted to Orissa. Since Orissa was skipped over, to correct this injustice an IIT should be immediately allotted to Orissa.
4. Repeated harassment of Orissa: the above has caused a lot of strife among the people of Orissa.
See the news coverage on the outrage this has caused all over Orissa. Is it the goal of the UPA government to create another strife-torn region? There is enough problems in India already! Why does the UPA government, especially its MHRD, repeatedly takes away institutes from Orissa after announcements have been made. This is akin to repeatedly showing food to a hungry person and then taking it away from him/her. Does not MHRD realize that such repeated teasing will make the hungry person seethe with rage. That’s what MHRD’s action has done to Orissa.
Why don’t the PM and planning commission stop MHRD from lighting such fires in the mind of the people of Orissa?
5. Dear PM: Please keep your word. Give us back the biggest infrastructure of all, the IIT that was announced for Orissa.
The PIB release reporting on (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=27010) the Prime minister’s latest meeting with our CM titled "PM REVIEWS PROGRESS OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN ORISSA" says:
"In his opening remarks the Prime Minister said that the Central Government would take all steps needed to promote development in Orissa. He assured the Chief Minister that procedural delays and inter-ministerial issues will be addressed and the State's interests protected."
Dear PM: The most important infrastructure project for Orissa is an IIT. Please stop it from being taken away after it has been announced by your ministerial colleague, Union minister of state for Human Resources and Development Mr. Fatmi , in Patna, on on Aug 28th 2006.
6. Getting other NDA partners on board: We must get other NDA partners (especially from outside Orissa) on board in our protest and demand for an IIT in Orissa. In this regard one may note that in 2002 the then minister of HRD Dr. M. M. Joshi is reported to have supported this. Following is an excerpt from that report.
(http://www.orissatv.com/pratidinnewsarchives.asp?passed=9/21/2002)
An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) would be set up in the tribal dominated district of Koraput as soon as financial crises is over according to Union Minister for Human Resources Dr Murali Manojhar Joshi. However, in a letter written to the Koraput MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Joshi informed that though the central govt. is interested to impart qualitative technical education, due to paucity of funds, this intention of the govt. is not getting adequate boost.He however, has written that the Centre is considering to open up an IIT in Koraput after its financial condition improves.
7. Parliament Question (needed for future steps): Please ask the following question in the parliament so that we can make an accurate calculation of how much MHRD spends on various states with respect to institutions that are fully funded by it.
Please give the 2005-06 and 2006-07 individual budgets (plan, non-plan and total) of the following fully MHRD funded institutions: Andhra Pradesh (NIT Warangal, Hyderabad University, Maulana Azad Urdu University), Assam (NIT Silchar, IIT Guwahati, Assam University, Tezpur University), Bihar (NIT Patna), Chhattisgarh (NIT Raipur), Delhi (IIT Delhi, JNU, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, School of Planning and Architecture), Gujarat (IIM Ahmedabad, NIT Surat), Haryana (NIT Kurukshetra), Himachal Pradesh (NIT Hamirpur), Jammu & Kashmir (NIT Srinagar), Jharkhand (NIT Jamshedpur, NIFFT Ranchi, ISM Dhanbad), Karnataka (NIT Surathkal, IISc Bangalore, IIM Bangalore), Kerala (NIT Calicut, IIM Kozhikhode), Madhya Pradesh (IIM Indore, NIT Bhopal, NITTR Bhopal, AVB IIITM Gwalior, IIITDM Jabalpur), Maharashtra (NIT Nagpur, NITIE Mumbai, IIT Bombay, Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi University), Manipur (Manipur University), Meghalaya (North Eastern Hill University), Mizoram (Mizoram University), Nagaland (Nagaland University), Orissa (NIT Rourkela), Punjab (NIT Jalandhar, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology), Rajasthan (NIT Jaipur), TamilNadu (NIT Trichy, IIT Madras, NITTR Chennai), Tripura (NIT Agartala), Uttaranchal (IIT Roorkee), UP (NIT Allahabad, IIM Lucknow, IIT Kanpur, IIIT Allahabad, Benaras Hindu University, Allahabad University, Babasaheb Ambedkar University), West Bengal (NIT Durgapur, IIT Kharagpur, IIM Calcutta, Viswa Bharati University, NITTR Kolkata), Chandigarh (NITTR), and Puducherry (Pondicherry University).
8. Anticipated challenges and countering them
The UPA government will definitely challenge the above points. Following are some anticipated challenges and their counter.
a. Orissa is already given an NISER.
(i) NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research) will have mainly science disciplines. An IIT’s focuses are technological and engineering disciplines. So having a NISER does not overcome the need for an IIT.
(ii) NISER is funded by Dept. of Atomic Energy and not by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Not only most other states have multiple fully MHRD funded institutions (such as IIT, IISER, IIM and Central University in West Bengal; IIT, IISER and Central Universities in Maharashtra, etc.) but two of the three states that have been picked for the greenfield IITs have been simultaneously granted other institutes that are funded by MHRD or other ministries. For example, Andhra Pradesh has been granted two MHRD funded IIESTs (Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology), which are referred to as IIT clones, an MHRD funded SPA (school of planning and architecture), a Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers funded NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) like institute and an Indian Institute of Public Health. Similarly, Bihar has also been granted a NIPER like institute. Kerala, which is being given an MHRD funded IISER is being given a new Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. Madhya Pradesh which is being given an MHRD funded IISER is being given a new SPA.
So why is Orissa being singled out, especially when NISER is not even from the MHRD, while many others are given multiple MHRD institutions or an MHRD institution and another institution.
b. Orissa has 12 central institutions.
This is ludicrous. Every state has many small central institutions. We are attaching a list at the end of this document that shows which states have which central institutions.
c. An IIT is a national institution; in which state it is located does not matter.
If one thinks of an IIT as a place where people go to study and get their degrees and evaluate its impact based on this aspect solely then it does not matter that much where it is located, and Mr. K is right. But an IIT is not just that.
An IIT is an infrastructure and it has and can also have huge impact on the local area (say within 100 kms) of where it is located.
An institution like IIT is (or will be) an engine of growth in and around the place where it is established. Examples abound: Stanford and Berkeley's impact on the Silicon Valley of California; Harvard and MIT's impact on the Boston corridor and our own IISc's impact on Bangalore are testament to this. (Stanford University and MIT have spawned many top-notch companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Bose electronics, all in the vicinity of the university.)
True, many of our existing IITs do not seem to have that much local impact. But that is changing. The example that is often bandied about as an IIT with no local impact, IIT Kharagpur, is now leading in this. It is helping in the development of a Biotech park near it http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1232755.cms and has also decided to create a super speciality hospital and start a medical college in Kharagpur.
(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060322/asp/frontpage/story_5998168.asp)
All our IITs will soon have similar and much more local impact and a few decades down the road they could have the impact of a Stanford on Silicon Valley and MIT and Harvard on the Boston corridor.
Moreover, many companies would like to be in a location with an IIT because that provides opportunities for their employees to pursue a higher degree, and because they can collaborate with the IIT faculty and students on cutting edge research. Thus having an IIT makes an otherwise good location a bigger attractor to companies for establishment of branch or for relocation.
At present IITs are India's best graduate schools in engineering. They are the best place, and often are the only place within hundreds of miles, with a comprehensive array of M.Tech and Ph.D programs. In the last decade Orissa has developed 40+ engineering
Colleges (http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/engineeringcollegesinorissa), mostly private ones. However, only handful of faculty in these colleges have Ph.Ds or M.Techs. In contrast, the faculty in most engineering programs in US have Ph.Ds. Several efforts are being made by AICTE, UGC and other organization to improve the quality of faculty in engineering colleges across India. Such efforts include QIP (Quality improvement programs) in various IITs and selected NITs. However, such efforts are not enough as often faculty at a private engineering college, say in the Bhubaneswar area (with 26 and growing engineering colleges), would have to take leave and then pursue a higher degree as the nearest IIT and NIT are more than 300kms away from Bhubaneswar.
However if there was an IIT within an hour and half of Bhubaneswar then many of the faculty in the 26 (and growing) odd engineering colleges in and around Bhubaneswar would be able to pursue higher a degree in that IIT without taking complete leave of their job and without relocating.
As a proof that this theory works, we submit the example of the Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar. It is a national institute admitting students from all over India. However, if one looks at its alumni http://www.iopb.res.in/~alumni/members/members.html one will
find that a large number of Ph.Ds are from Orissa and many of these Ph.Ds have gone on to be Physics faculty in various colleges in Orissa.
Here we want to state that we do not subscribe that an IIT in Orissa should have any preference or quota for students from Orissa. Its just a fact of life that, especially at the graduate level, for QIP, and for industry sponsored candidates, more local people join take advantage of the opportunity as it is easy for them to do that.
d. IIT location should be in a good accessible place. New IITs should be located in a backward area. There should be industries around the location where a new IIT is located.
We agree and will argue that a location an hour or hour and half south of Bhubaneswar (note: 1.5 hours one way is a typical commute from home to office in Mumbai) satisfies the above three criteria perfectly.
(i) A perfect location for a greenfield IIT is the Ganjam district of South Orissa (which is one of the most backward area of India) at a place within 1-1.5 hours of Bhubaneswar on NH-5 and 30-40 minutes of Berhampur on NH-5, the major town in South Orissa. This location will be the best of both worlds, close enough to Bhubaneswar to avail of all the opportunities there and help the 29+ engineering colleges in the Bhubaneswar-Berhampur corridor and yet in south Orissa and close to South Orissa's major city so as to impact the backward South Orissa region in many other ways. An IIT at such a location will help build a Bhubaneswar-Berhampur hi-tech corridor. Such a location in Ganjam district of Orissa will be in South Orissa the most backward region of India.
(ii) It will be close enough to Bhubaneswar, which is well connected to cities and towns all over India.
Considering only non-stop or one-stop without plane changes, Bhubaneswar has 5 daily flights to Delhi, 3 to Calcutta, 3 to Hyderabad, 2 to Mumbai, 2 to Chennai, 2.3 to Bangalore, 1 to Vizag, and partial connections to Ranchi and Raipur. More details are at http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/airportsandairconnectivityinorissa
Bhubaneswar has multiple daily direct trains to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, a daily train to Mumbai, and trains to all corners of India (Guwahati, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Jaipur, Punjab, Rishikesh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Benras, Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, etc.) A map of Bhubaneswar's railway connectivity is at http://orissalinks1.googlepages.com/india-map-bbsr-direct-train.pdf and a table is at http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/rail-connectivity-bbsr.pdf
(iii) The Bhubaneswar area has sustained high quality research and educational institutions such as Institute of Physics, Institute of Life Sciences and Xaviers Institute of Mangament, and has many universities such as Utkal University, Orissa university of Agriculture and Technology, Utkal University of Culture, Ravenshaw University. Moreover, recently several several high profile higher education institutions have found the area to be suitable. This includes the proposed NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research), the proposed Vedanta University (near Puri) and the proposed university by the Art of Living trust of Shri Shri Ravishankar. Thus there is no reason why an area within 1 to 1.5 hours of Bhubaneswar is not suitable for an IIT.
(iv) A world class institution needs local goodwill to grow and blossom. When there is a need then the local people will appreciate and help an institution like IIT located in their midst. Earlier, we established the need of an IIT in Orissa. Thus the people of Orissa, because of their need, will appreciate and help in the growth of an IIT in Orissa.
(v) Although Orissa is behind many other states in terms of industrialization, in recent years there has been tremendous industrial growth in Orissa and an IIT is necessary to nurture, support and amplify that growth. Besides existing industries such SAIL Rourkela, NALCO, NTPC, MCL, etc., following is a short list on new industry coming up in Orissa during the last three years:
Metal Sector: 45 projects over 70 mtpa of steel (22 of them partly commissioned) with more than US$45 billion investment; 4 new aluminum complexes and 1 mtpa aluminium smelter capacity under implementation with US$10 billion investment and rare earth projects worth US$0.5 billion. The investors in this sector include POSCO, Arcelor-Mittal, Tata Steel, Bhusan, Jindal, Essar, Hindalco, Vedanta, L&T Dubal etc.
Chemical and Petrochemical: 15 mtpa US$6 billion mega petrochemical by IOC; Deepak Fertilizers implementing 2 chemical projects at Paradeep, etc.
Energy and power: 13 thermal power projects under implementation with capacity of 13,500 MW with investment of US$14 billion and Reliance Industry hydrocarbon based power generation and gas grid (US$1.5Bn). The investors include Tata Power, Reliance energy, Sterlite energy, Mahanadi Aban, Monnet Ispat, Essar power, Lanco group, NavBharat Power, CESC and GMR energy.
Ports: 2 new ports are under construction at Dhamara and Gopalpur and three others at Jatadhari, Kirtania and Astaranga are in the pipeline with MOUs on them signed.
IT: Infosys, Satyam, TCS, Wipro, Genepact, Mindtree, Hexaware, etc.
Word document (500 KB) at: http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/iit-orissa-booklet-mps.doc
Compilation of news items (9 MB): http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/Binder1.pdf
Digambara Patra's compilation of national labs distribution across India:
http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/state_wise_national_lab.pdf
========================================================
The text part of "IIT in Orissa: talking points"
IIT in Orissa: talking points
Following are some points that can be used to convince the other MPs, the PM, the planning commission etc. that the issue of an IIT in Orissa is an extremely important one; it has caused a lot of strife in Orissa; and appropriate amendments must be made at the earliest.
1. Our strongest point: A green field IIT in Orissa and a branch campus of IIT Kharagpur in Bhubaneswar had been decided in MHRD, so much so that On August 28th 2006, Union minister of state for Human Resources and Development Mr. M. Fatmi said the following Patna. (This was reported in Times of India on Aug 29th 2006, and available for everyone to see at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1933613.cms and http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/PUmayfinallygetCentralvarsitystatus-.pdf )
2. Is this the India we want where newspaper headlines scream:
3 IITs for Andhra and none for Orissa.
The three IITs for Andhra here refer to the greenfield IIT that has been announced and the announcements that Andha University Engineering College and Osmania University engineering colleges will be upgraded to IIT clones (to be called IIEST – Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology.) We should brandish copies of the news item that has the headlines "3 IITs for Andhra and none for Orissa" to other MPs, planning commission, and the PM.
3. Does MHRD think that Orissa is not a part of India?
Why does it repeatedly takes away institutes that have been announced for Orissa?
Why does not it pay attention that Orissa is among the bottom three in per-capita spending by MHRD on fully-MHRD-funded institutions?
A rough calculation detailed at http://equitableindia.org showed that MHRD was scheduled to spend Rs 4.07 on fully funded HRD institutions (like IITs, IIMs, etc.) per person in Orissa, while it will spend Rs 183.08 in Delhi, Rs 41.20 in West Bengal, Rs 33.4 in Karnataka, Rs 27 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 28.38 in Maharastra, Rs 17.73 in UP, Rs 16.05 in Andhra, Rs 33.27 in Punjab, Rs 8.13 in Haryana, Rs 7.90 in Kerala, Rs 9.02 in MP, Rs 4.87 in Gujurat, Rs 2.59 in Rajasthan, and Rs 1.87 in Bihar. In other words Bihar, Rajasthan and Orissa were at the bottom of per-capita spending by MHRD in its fully funded higher education institutions. Now that IITs have been allotted to Bihar and Rajasthan, it is imperative that the next IIT should have been allotted to Orissa. Since Orissa was skipped over, to correct this injustice an IIT should be immediately allotted to Orissa.
4. Repeated harassment of Orissa: the above has caused a lot of strife among the people of Orissa.
See the news coverage on the outrage this has caused all over Orissa. Is it the goal of the UPA government to create another strife-torn region? There is enough problems in India already! Why does the UPA government, especially its MHRD, repeatedly takes away institutes from Orissa after announcements have been made. This is akin to repeatedly showing food to a hungry person and then taking it away from him/her. Does not MHRD realize that such repeated teasing will make the hungry person seethe with rage. That’s what MHRD’s action has done to Orissa.
Why don’t the PM and planning commission stop MHRD from lighting such fires in the mind of the people of Orissa?
5. Dear PM: Please keep your word. Give us back the biggest infrastructure of all, the IIT that was announced for Orissa.
The PIB release reporting on (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=27010) the Prime minister’s latest meeting with our CM titled "PM REVIEWS PROGRESS OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN ORISSA" says:
"In his opening remarks the Prime Minister said that the Central Government would take all steps needed to promote development in Orissa. He assured the Chief Minister that procedural delays and inter-ministerial issues will be addressed and the State's interests protected."
Dear PM: The most important infrastructure project for Orissa is an IIT. Please stop it from being taken away after it has been announced by your ministerial colleague, Union minister of state for Human Resources and Development Mr. Fatmi , in Patna, on on Aug 28th 2006.
6. Getting other NDA partners on board: We must get other NDA partners (especially from outside Orissa) on board in our protest and demand for an IIT in Orissa. In this regard one may note that in 2002 the then minister of HRD Dr. M. M. Joshi is reported to have supported this. Following is an excerpt from that report.
(http://www.orissatv.com/pratidinnewsarchives.asp?passed=9/21/2002)
An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) would be set up in the tribal dominated district of Koraput as soon as financial crises is over according to Union Minister for Human Resources Dr Murali Manojhar Joshi. However, in a letter written to the Koraput MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Joshi informed that though the central govt. is interested to impart qualitative technical education, due to paucity of funds, this intention of the govt. is not getting adequate boost.He however, has written that the Centre is considering to open up an IIT in Koraput after its financial condition improves.
7. Parliament Question (needed for future steps): Please ask the following question in the parliament so that we can make an accurate calculation of how much MHRD spends on various states with respect to institutions that are fully funded by it.
Please give the 2005-06 and 2006-07 individual budgets (plan, non-plan and total) of the following fully MHRD funded institutions: Andhra Pradesh (NIT Warangal, Hyderabad University, Maulana Azad Urdu University), Assam (NIT Silchar, IIT Guwahati, Assam University, Tezpur University), Bihar (NIT Patna), Chhattisgarh (NIT Raipur), Delhi (IIT Delhi, JNU, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, School of Planning and Architecture), Gujarat (IIM Ahmedabad, NIT Surat), Haryana (NIT Kurukshetra), Himachal Pradesh (NIT Hamirpur), Jammu & Kashmir (NIT Srinagar), Jharkhand (NIT Jamshedpur, NIFFT Ranchi, ISM Dhanbad), Karnataka (NIT Surathkal, IISc Bangalore, IIM Bangalore), Kerala (NIT Calicut, IIM Kozhikhode), Madhya Pradesh (IIM Indore, NIT Bhopal, NITTR Bhopal, AVB IIITM Gwalior, IIITDM Jabalpur), Maharashtra (NIT Nagpur, NITIE Mumbai, IIT Bombay, Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi University), Manipur (Manipur University), Meghalaya (North Eastern Hill University), Mizoram (Mizoram University), Nagaland (Nagaland University), Orissa (NIT Rourkela), Punjab (NIT Jalandhar, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology), Rajasthan (NIT Jaipur), TamilNadu (NIT Trichy, IIT Madras, NITTR Chennai), Tripura (NIT Agartala), Uttaranchal (IIT Roorkee), UP (NIT Allahabad, IIM Lucknow, IIT Kanpur, IIIT Allahabad, Benaras Hindu University, Allahabad University, Babasaheb Ambedkar University), West Bengal (NIT Durgapur, IIT Kharagpur, IIM Calcutta, Viswa Bharati University, NITTR Kolkata), Chandigarh (NITTR), and Puducherry (Pondicherry University).
8. Anticipated challenges and countering them
The UPA government will definitely challenge the above points. Following are some anticipated challenges and their counter.
a. Orissa is already given an NISER.
(i) NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research) will have mainly science disciplines. An IIT’s focuses are technological and engineering disciplines. So having a NISER does not overcome the need for an IIT.
(ii) NISER is funded by Dept. of Atomic Energy and not by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Not only most other states have multiple fully MHRD funded institutions (such as IIT, IISER, IIM and Central University in West Bengal; IIT, IISER and Central Universities in Maharashtra, etc.) but two of the three states that have been picked for the greenfield IITs have been simultaneously granted other institutes that are funded by MHRD or other ministries. For example, Andhra Pradesh has been granted two MHRD funded IIESTs (Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology), which are referred to as IIT clones, an MHRD funded SPA (school of planning and architecture), a Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers funded NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) like institute and an Indian Institute of Public Health. Similarly, Bihar has also been granted a NIPER like institute. Kerala, which is being given an MHRD funded IISER is being given a new Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. Madhya Pradesh which is being given an MHRD funded IISER is being given a new SPA.
So why is Orissa being singled out, especially when NISER is not even from the MHRD, while many others are given multiple MHRD institutions or an MHRD institution and another institution.
b. Orissa has 12 central institutions.
This is ludicrous. Every state has many small central institutions. We are attaching a list at the end of this document that shows which states have which central institutions.
c. An IIT is a national institution; in which state it is located does not matter.
If one thinks of an IIT as a place where people go to study and get their degrees and evaluate its impact based on this aspect solely then it does not matter that much where it is located, and Mr. K is right. But an IIT is not just that.
An IIT is an infrastructure and it has and can also have huge impact on the local area (say within 100 kms) of where it is located.
An institution like IIT is (or will be) an engine of growth in and around the place where it is established. Examples abound: Stanford and Berkeley's impact on the Silicon Valley of California; Harvard and MIT's impact on the Boston corridor and our own IISc's impact on Bangalore are testament to this. (Stanford University and MIT have spawned many top-notch companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Bose electronics, all in the vicinity of the university.)
True, many of our existing IITs do not seem to have that much local impact. But that is changing. The example that is often bandied about as an IIT with no local impact, IIT Kharagpur, is now leading in this. It is helping in the development of a Biotech park near it http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1232755.cms and has also decided to create a super speciality hospital and start a medical college in Kharagpur.
(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060322/asp/frontpage/story_5998168.asp)
All our IITs will soon have similar and much more local impact and a few decades down the road they could have the impact of a Stanford on Silicon Valley and MIT and Harvard on the Boston corridor.
Moreover, many companies would like to be in a location with an IIT because that provides opportunities for their employees to pursue a higher degree, and because they can collaborate with the IIT faculty and students on cutting edge research. Thus having an IIT makes an otherwise good location a bigger attractor to companies for establishment of branch or for relocation.
At present IITs are India's best graduate schools in engineering. They are the best place, and often are the only place within hundreds of miles, with a comprehensive array of M.Tech and Ph.D programs. In the last decade Orissa has developed 40+ engineering
Colleges (http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/engineeringcollegesinorissa), mostly private ones. However, only handful of faculty in these colleges have Ph.Ds or M.Techs. In contrast, the faculty in most engineering programs in US have Ph.Ds. Several efforts are being made by AICTE, UGC and other organization to improve the quality of faculty in engineering colleges across India. Such efforts include QIP (Quality improvement programs) in various IITs and selected NITs. However, such efforts are not enough as often faculty at a private engineering college, say in the Bhubaneswar area (with 26 and growing engineering colleges), would have to take leave and then pursue a higher degree as the nearest IIT and NIT are more than 300kms away from Bhubaneswar.
However if there was an IIT within an hour and half of Bhubaneswar then many of the faculty in the 26 (and growing) odd engineering colleges in and around Bhubaneswar would be able to pursue higher a degree in that IIT without taking complete leave of their job and without relocating.
As a proof that this theory works, we submit the example of the Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar. It is a national institute admitting students from all over India. However, if one looks at its alumni http://www.iopb.res.in/~alumni/members/members.html one will
find that a large number of Ph.Ds are from Orissa and many of these Ph.Ds have gone on to be Physics faculty in various colleges in Orissa.
Here we want to state that we do not subscribe that an IIT in Orissa should have any preference or quota for students from Orissa. Its just a fact of life that, especially at the graduate level, for QIP, and for industry sponsored candidates, more local people join take advantage of the opportunity as it is easy for them to do that.
d. IIT location should be in a good accessible place. New IITs should be located in a backward area. There should be industries around the location where a new IIT is located.
We agree and will argue that a location an hour or hour and half south of Bhubaneswar (note: 1.5 hours one way is a typical commute from home to office in Mumbai) satisfies the above three criteria perfectly.
(i) A perfect location for a greenfield IIT is the Ganjam district of South Orissa (which is one of the most backward area of India) at a place within 1-1.5 hours of Bhubaneswar on NH-5 and 30-40 minutes of Berhampur on NH-5, the major town in South Orissa. This location will be the best of both worlds, close enough to Bhubaneswar to avail of all the opportunities there and help the 29+ engineering colleges in the Bhubaneswar-Berhampur corridor and yet in south Orissa and close to South Orissa's major city so as to impact the backward South Orissa region in many other ways. An IIT at such a location will help build a Bhubaneswar-Berhampur hi-tech corridor. Such a location in Ganjam district of Orissa will be in South Orissa the most backward region of India.
(ii) It will be close enough to Bhubaneswar, which is well connected to cities and towns all over India.
Considering only non-stop or one-stop without plane changes, Bhubaneswar has 5 daily flights to Delhi, 3 to Calcutta, 3 to Hyderabad, 2 to Mumbai, 2 to Chennai, 2.3 to Bangalore, 1 to Vizag, and partial connections to Ranchi and Raipur. More details are at http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/airportsandairconnectivityinorissa
Bhubaneswar has multiple daily direct trains to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, a daily train to Mumbai, and trains to all corners of India (Guwahati, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Jaipur, Punjab, Rishikesh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Benras, Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, etc.) A map of Bhubaneswar's railway connectivity is at http://orissalinks1.googlepages.com/india-map-bbsr-direct-train.pdf and a table is at http://orissalinks.googlepages.com/rail-connectivity-bbsr.pdf
(iii) The Bhubaneswar area has sustained high quality research and educational institutions such as Institute of Physics, Institute of Life Sciences and Xaviers Institute of Mangament, and has many universities such as Utkal University, Orissa university of Agriculture and Technology, Utkal University of Culture, Ravenshaw University. Moreover, recently several several high profile higher education institutions have found the area to be suitable. This includes the proposed NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research), the proposed Vedanta University (near Puri) and the proposed university by the Art of Living trust of Shri Shri Ravishankar. Thus there is no reason why an area within 1 to 1.5 hours of Bhubaneswar is not suitable for an IIT.
(iv) A world class institution needs local goodwill to grow and blossom. When there is a need then the local people will appreciate and help an institution like IIT located in their midst. Earlier, we established the need of an IIT in Orissa. Thus the people of Orissa, because of their need, will appreciate and help in the growth of an IIT in Orissa.
(v) Although Orissa is behind many other states in terms of industrialization, in recent years there has been tremendous industrial growth in Orissa and an IIT is necessary to nurture, support and amplify that growth. Besides existing industries such SAIL Rourkela, NALCO, NTPC, MCL, etc., following is a short list on new industry coming up in Orissa during the last three years:
Metal Sector: 45 projects over 70 mtpa of steel (22 of them partly commissioned) with more than US$45 billion investment; 4 new aluminum complexes and 1 mtpa aluminium smelter capacity under implementation with US$10 billion investment and rare earth projects worth US$0.5 billion. The investors in this sector include POSCO, Arcelor-Mittal, Tata Steel, Bhusan, Jindal, Essar, Hindalco, Vedanta, L&T Dubal etc.
Chemical and Petrochemical: 15 mtpa US$6 billion mega petrochemical by IOC; Deepak Fertilizers implementing 2 chemical projects at Paradeep, etc.
Energy and power: 13 thermal power projects under implementation with capacity of 13,500 MW with investment of US$14 billion and Reliance Industry hydrocarbon based power generation and gas grid (US$1.5Bn). The investors include Tata Power, Reliance energy, Sterlite energy, Mahanadi Aban, Monnet Ispat, Essar power, Lanco group, NavBharat Power, CESC and GMR energy.
Ports: 2 new ports are under construction at Dhamara and Gopalpur and three others at Jatadhari, Kirtania and Astaranga are in the pipeline with MOUs on them signed.
IT: Infosys, Satyam, TCS, Wipro, Genepact, Mindtree, Hexaware, etc.
Booklet compiling the IIT Orissa issue in the media (9 MB)
The various news items on the IIT Orissa issue that has appeared in the various Orissa based and national media has been compiled to a single 9 MB pdf file at is made available at http://iitorissa.googlepages.com/Binder1.pdf
I think if this compilation is shown by our MPs to other MPs, the planning commission and PM then it will convince them that this is a big deal for Orissa and it has caused a lot of strife in Orissa and they should pay attention and do something urgently.
I think if this compilation is shown by our MPs to other MPs, the planning commission and PM then it will convince them that this is a big deal for Orissa and it has caused a lot of strife in Orissa and they should pay attention and do something urgently.
Sambad: Orissa MPs prepares to raise IIT issue in the parliament
Saturday, March 24, 2007
IIT issue raised by Orissa MPs in the parliament
Dharitri (page1, page 2, page 3, page4, page5, page6, page7) has a nice summary of the various issues raised by Orissa's MPs in the just concluded first phase of the budget session of the parliament. It shows that various MPs raised the IIT in Orissa issue and MHRD's discrimination against Orissa. In particular:
- BJD and BJP MPs gave a notice in the Lok Sabha on this issue, and received acknowledgement from the speaker, but it did not get a chance to be included in the Lok Sabha proceedings. (page1) We hope that they insist that it gets included in the second phase of the parliament session.
- Lok Sabha: MP Mr. Swain raised the IIT issue. (page2)
- Lok Sabha: MP Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan raised the IIT issue as well as how MHRD spends much lower in Orissa than in other places. (page3)
- Lok Sabha: MP Ms. Archana Nayak raised the IIT issue. (page6)
- Rajya Sabha: MP Mr. Pyarimohan Patnaik raised the IIT issue. (page2)
- Rajya Sabha: MP Mr. Rudranarayan Pani raised the IIT issue. (page 7)
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Pioneer: Agami Orissa to gherao Parliament to protest shifting of IIT
| Agami Orissa to gherao Parliament to protest shifting of IIT | |||
| |||
| With the help of students, teachers and intellectuals of the State, the Organisation would launch mass mobilisation rally in order to gain public support, he said. | |||
| The decision to shift the proposed IIT to Andhra Pradesh has proved the anti- Orissa attitude of the Central Government, Tripathy said adding that all should strongly oppose the move. | |||
| It might be noted here that earlier on October 2006, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development MAA Fatmi had announced in Patna that two IITs would be set up in Bihar and Orissa, which had made the people of the State buoyant. But the Ministry had reversed its announcement within a few days. | |||
| Meanwhile, extending its full support to the agitation call by the Agami Orissa, State unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also turned the decision due to the Congress Party's age-old negligence against Orissa. | |||
| Parishad national zonal organising secretary Bishnu Das threatened that the Parishad would launch a statewide agitation against the Union HRD Ministry. "It was not the first case, earlier the Centre had promised for a NIS, but when the Left Parties mounted pressure, it was shifted to Kolkata and now both the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Andhra Pradesh Government are mounting pressure," Das said adding Orissa has to wait for justice. | |||
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