PANAJI
The elusive campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa was once again the focus of the narrative at the third convocation ceremony of the prestigious technology institute on Saturday.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who attended the convocation told the students and faculty that they will get a permanent campus "very soon".
It will be the sixth consecutive year that IIT-Goa has been functioning in Goa without its own exclusive campus and is sharing one at Farmagudi with the Goa Engineering College since beginning operations in 2016-17.
"I am not promising anything. But, sure-shot, IIT Goa will get its permanent campus within a short span of time," Sawant said in his speech at the convocation ceremony on Saturday.
The Chief Minister added that he is working hard to make it a reality.
Meanwhile, Sawant also urged the IIT-Goa community of students and faculty to actively pursue solutions to some vexing problems of the State.
One such issue in which the chief minister sought their expertise was to come up with solutions to the problem of erosion of the coastline which is threatening to damage several beaches, the mainstay of Goa's tourism sector.
Sawant urged them to come up with ideas to deal with the coastal erosion problem as also the issue micro-plastic menace in the food chain, especially fish and marine life, besides other environmental challenges.
"Climate change is affecting the coastline due to sea erosion...it is causing flooding. I urge IIT-Goa to deal with such issues," Sawant said.
Sawant also expressed gratitude for IIT-Goa's collaboration with the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) in developing tools to measure air pollution levels and also manufacturing face shields for frontline health workers during the pandemic.
The chief minister also made a mention of the institution's support to the State government in helping promote start-ups and to make Goa IT friendly.
