KalingaTimes Correspondent
New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Tuesday assured Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that the State's demand for the setting up of an Indian Institute of Technology will be considered while finalising the proposals of his Ministry for the 11th Plan.

The Union Minister's assurance came when the Chief Minister met him here on Tuesday.

Patnaik urged Singh to set up a new IIT in Orissa stating that the State did not have a single educational institution of national excellence so far.

The demand for an IIT in the State had gained strength after the United Progressive Alliance Government recently clarified in Parliament that there was no plan to set up an IIT in the State during the 11th Plan Period.

Earlier, Patnaik had also written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention in the matter.

Orissa was in need of higher educational institutions to meet its requirement of well-trained professionals in view of the industrial growth taking place in the State in the recent years, Patnaik said.

The demand for an IIT continues to be in focus in Orissa with different political parties and other organisations organising dharnas and demonstrations to highlight the issue during the past few days.

According to an official release, during his meeting with Singh on Tuesday Patnaik also raised the demand for setting up of an Indian Institute of Management in the State and a Central University in the backward Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region. Singh, however, did not give any assurance with regard to these demands.