Has the Goa government declared a war on its own people and voters? When we were just savouring the victory of the people against the IIT we are informed an expert committee will decide on the new location of the project. And, we are assured the people will be consulted before the decision to set up the campus. Why are the people against the IIT project? Two reasons among others stick out like sore thumbs. 1) The farmers who were cultivating the land for centuries did not want the government to snatch their land. Was this the way the government was going to help the farmers by taking away their income, their livelihood? 2) Land given for an IIT is a waste as building a campus in Goa will not bring prestige to this project. The prestige can come only from Goan IIT students who qualify to enter inside as successful students or faculty. Reserved seats are not possible in this case. Everyone knows the late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was an IITian. It stays in the Goan memory easily only because there are few, very very few IIT graduates. It is time the government uses the scarce land in Goa to benefit the locals as the land belongs to the people, they too are the first stakeholders.
