Orissa at the receiving end of MHRD again: Announced for new IIT for Orissa shifted?
Update2: I am told by people from Bhubaneswar that New indian Express and Dharitri also published this news. (I have not yet found those news items in the Internet editions.)
Update1: Sambada also has a news item on this.
Pioneer, Tathya and Odisha.com have news items regarding how Orissa was in the original list of locations for the new IITs; so much so that TOI reported that Union minister of state for HRD MAA Fatmi on 28-8-06 said, “The proposal for one IIT for Bihar and two for Orissa and one Western Indian state besides one IIIT to Bihar will be included in 11th Five Year Plan.” With respect to Orissa he probably referred to one of the 3 new IITs proposed to be in the 11th plan and a branch campus of IIT KGP in BBSR. However, later news reports say that the 3 new IITs will be in Bihar, Rajasthan and AP. Yet again, Orissa has been sidelined by MHRD.
This is explosive news. Yet again Orissa has been sidelined by the HRD ministry. Like the NIS case, all Orissans should protest this (non-violently and without disruptive methods such as Rasta Roko etc.) by writing letters to the PM, Sonia Gandhi, Planning Commission, various newspapers etc. and contacting the MPs, MLAs and political leaders of all parties of Orissa and urging them to bring this up in the Orissa assembly, in Indian Parliament, with the Planning Commission, with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and with the PM. Orissa should not tolerate such repeated slights by the MHRD.
We will be assembling documents and pointers with respect to this injustice towards Orissa and collecting all relevant information in a blog specifically made for this.
2 comments January 29th, 2007