|
KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has once again written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology in the State.
In a letter written to the Prime Minister on Thursday, Patnaik said that Orissa had been denied an IIT during 2008-09 and there was little chance of the State getting the institution during the 11th Plan.
Pointing out that Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal had been given new IITs despite having higher institutions of learning, Patnaik said that not considering demand of Orissa was a clear case of political
favouritism.
|
Patnaik, who had written similar letters to the Prime Minister and Union Human Resource Development Minister in the past, said the Centre should establish an IIT in Orissa if it was keen to ensure development
in all the regions of the country.
The need for skilled manpower had grown in the State in view of the
fast industrialisation that was taking place during the past four
years, Patnaik said.
In another development, legislators belonging to ruling the Biju
Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party also demanded establishment of an
IIT in the State.
In order to highlight their demand, they staged a dharna near the
statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of the State Assembly and
urged the Centre to fulfill their demand without delay.
|
