From correspondents in Orissa, India, 08:31 PM IST
Hundreds of students and political activists Thursday demanded the central government set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Orissa, a day after the government said it had no such plan.
Over 300 activists of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhaban here, the official residence of Governor Rameshwar Thakur.
Students of Rupalli Vidyapitha, a residential school in the city, also launched a signature campaign to press the demand for setting up the premier engineering institute.
Orissa does not have any institute of national repute like the IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) or Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samir Mohanty said.
The central government had earlier promised to set up an IIT but it did not keep its promise, he alleged.
On Wednesday, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeshwari categorically said in parliament that the central government had no plan to set up an IIT in Orissa.
The minister said this replying to call attention notices given by some Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members.
BJD and BJP MPs of Orissa had staged a protest at the main gate of the Parliament House Wednesday demanding an IIT in the state and denouncing the apathetic attitude of the HRD ministry.
'We will continue our fight against the step motherly attitude of the central government towards Orissa,' state BJP MP Jual Oram told IANS.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has described the central government's rejection of setting up an IIT in Orissa as 'unfortunate' and said BJD-BJP combine will take the issue to the streets.
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Orissa is in every way a colony under the central government. Its mineral wealth has been looted for 60 years. It has been deprived of its fair share of money, the denial of an IIT being only one example. Orissa recives the least amount of financial assistance per capita than any other state in India.
Bangladesh has fared much better than Orissa has. It has a higher per capita income, its literacy rate is higher, and poverty and death rates are lower. It hs done a great job after 1971, when it started much below Orissa.
It may be a good idea for Orissa to ask for independence!
Orissa is in every way a colony under the central government. Its mineral wealth has been looted for 60 years. It has been deprived of its fair share of money, the denial of an IIT being only one example. Orissa recives the least amount of financial assistance per capita than any other state in India.
Bangladesh has fared much better than Orissa has. It has a higher per capita income, its literacy rate is higher, and poverty and death rates are lower. It hs done a great job after 1971, when it started much below Orissa.
It may be a good idea for Orissa to ask for independence!
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