PONDA
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said that if people of Canacona don’t want the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to come up in their area, then the proposed educational project can be shifted to some other place.
“Show me land admeasuring 250 acres, we can send the team to see its viability,” Parrikar said.
Parrikar was speaking at a function of Goa Vidya Prasarak Mandal at Ponda.
“I tried to bring the IIT in Canacona, but if people don’t want it there then we can shift it to some other place. But this doesn’t mean that I have changed my mind about Canacona,” Parrikar said.
According to Parrikar, there is a portion of land in Dharbandora. “If you have any land in Ponda taluka, you can tell me. I will send the team and inspect it. We will pay the landlords and will settle the tenants, if any,” he said.
It may be recalled that the IIT’s Goa branch was started in the campus of Goa Engineering College-Farmagudi under the mentorship of IIT, Bombay (IIT-B) last July. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar had said that permanent campus of IIT-Goa will be constructed within 1,000 days at Loliem-Canacona. But, stiff opposition from people of Loliem and Canacona has forced the government to change its decision and to scout for a new site.
Speaking further, Parrikar also said that the central government is ready to give 40 per cent reservation to Goan students in National Institute of Technology-Goa.
“We have acquired land in Quepem, and the NIT’s permanent campus will come up there. The process was stuck as the central government had included Daman and Diu, Lakshwadeep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli in the 50 per cent reservation quota of Goa. Now excluding these areas, we will be alloted 40 per cent quota,” he said.
He also added that he is committed towards constructing the campuses of both the technical institutes.
Speaking to The Goan, PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar welcomed the chief minister’s plans and said that the IIT campus can come up either at Priol plateau or Agapur. “The per capita income of Ponda and the village areas will rise if the IIT campus is set up in Ponda taluka. It will also help the locals in getting jobs and pursuing education. I will try my best to bring it here,” he said.
