The IIT issue and the associated issue of central government neglect (injustice, discrimination) has become a hot political issue in Orissa. While the BJD and its CM supremo Naveen Patnaik has been discussing it forcefully in its meetings, even in villages; the Congress has been forced to respond. However the response of the Congress is feeble and lacks merit. BJD spokespersons (including MPs) have started mentioning economic blockade such as stopping coal transport and rail movement as a way to make the center take notice of Orissa’s genuine grievances in the HRD arena.
May 21st, 2007
Sometimes people question that how an IIT in Orissa is going to help Orissa. Earlier we had given some arguments in regards to this. A recent Economic times article bolsters our contention and gives current examples of companies that want to establish units in certain places because of the marquee institutions there.
May 21st, 2007
New Indian Express reports that:
A release issued by Sahu‘s office stated that Sahu had also proposed to the Textile Minister for a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) centre at Bhubaneswar.
The proposal was accepted by Vaghela who promised to open the centre.
The news item also states that the center has decided to establish IIHT (Indian Institute of Handloom Technology) in Baragarh and minister Chandrasekhar Sahu’s office issued a release to that effect. The IIHT part is somewhat old news. The NIFT news, if true, is most welcome. However, if these small budgeted institutes are in lieu of an IIT then minister Sahu is selling Orissa cheap. He should not think that Orissans are so gullible that they would be happy to lose a 1000-4000 crore IIT and instead get 5-10 crore type institutes.
May 18th, 2007
It has been widely reported [Times of India, Statesman, Telegraph, Pioneer, New Indian Express, Samaja, Pragativadi, Kalinga Times] that the CM met HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh on the IIT issue and Mr. Singh promised to consider Orissa for an IIT when the 11th is finalized.
However, Mr. Singh’s promise does not mean much. He has made such promises before during the time when the CM met him for NIS. In fact with respect to IIT Kharagpur’s campus in Bhubaneswar Mr. Singh’s meeting with the CM had been reported on September 29 2006 as follows:
The Chief Minister, Orissa, Shri Naveen Patnaik met the Union Minister for Human Resources development, Shri Arjun Singh today to discuss about the establishment of a campus of IIT, Kharagpur in Orissa. Shri Patnaik stated that the Government of Orissa have offered 300 acres of land next to Bhubaneswar city for setting up the campus and the State Government is fully committed to provide all necessary assistance for the institution. Since Orissa is fast emerging as a hub for industrial activities, an institution of the stature of IIT will provide the much needed boost to the efforts of the Government in providing support to these industries. The Union Minister, Shri Arjun Singh stated that the Central Government is positively inclined for setting up such an institution soon.
Similarly, with respect to KBK Central University Mr. Singh’s meeting with the CM had been reported on October 24 2005 as follows:
Statesman News Service BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 24. — Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik today urged the Centre to accord approval for a central university in the undivided Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts, besides expediting setting up the proposed Regional Centre of Studies in Integrated Sciences at Bhubaneswar. These requests were made by the Chief minister during his meeting with the Union Human Resources Development minister Mr Arjun Singh at New Delhi today. Mr Singh sought a formal proposal from the state government for the establishment of a central university in KBK region while appreciating the rationale behind the idea, said an official release.
So we should not get lulled by Mr. Singh saying that he will consider. We need to put pressure on him from all sides to actually grant an IIT for Orissa.
May 16th, 2007
The Ministry of Textiles has established four Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology at Varanasi, Salem, Jodhpur and Guwahati under the central sector. At present the four Institutes conduct 3 years Diploma Course in Handloom Technology. The Institutes at Varanasi and Salem are also conducting 1-1/2 (one & half) year duration (Three Semester) Post Diploma Course in Textile Chemistry. Recently it has been announced that a new one will be set up in Bargarh, Orissa.
May 14th, 2007
May 13th, 2007
On May 8th 2007, NDA MPs from Orissa brought a call attention notice in the Lok Sabha about an IIT in Orissa and dissatisfied with response walked out of the parliament and were supported by other NDA MPs in this walkout. Speaking about this MP Baijayanta Panda of BJD is reported to have said, “Orissa is being continuously neglected by the Centre, especially by the ministry of HRD.” Is Mr. Panda right? Or is this a typical whining allegation that opposition parties from various states regularly throw at the government.
Continue Reading May 9th, 2007
Yesterday’s Dahritri has a column by senior columnist Barendra Kumar Dhal [1,2,3,4,5,6] where he lists the various initiatives and projects taken up during Biju Patnaik’s government of 1961-67. I am amazed by the list which includes many HRD institutions. Here are some of the highlights.
- Paradeep Port
- Daitari-Paradeep highway
- Mig factory in Sunabeda
- Rourkela Steel Plant
- Regional Research Laboratory
- Regional College of Education (Now called Regional Institute of Education)
- Berhampur University
- Sambalpur University
- Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology
- Sainik School
- Baragarh Cement factory
- Various factories of IDC
- Orissa textile mills (OTM)
- Kalinga Tubes
- Kalinga Iron works
Other References: Ganjam District site,wikipedia,Orissa govt. e-magazine, another.
April 24th, 2007
I came across the websites of Fakirmohan University (FMU) in Balasore and North Orissa University (NOU) in Baripada. Both universities seem to have progressed a lot since they were made in 1999. They have taken slightly different paths though. While FMU has focussed on departments that are more in demand with respect to the job market, NOU has been a bit more traditional.
Continue Reading April 23rd, 2007
SIS (Security and Intelligent Services), a private company, will open its 5th academy (after Dehradun, Gurgaon, Garwa and Bangalore) near Cuttack in Chouduar at a cost of 5 crores. For that it is reported (in Samaja – Oriya) to have acquired 10,000 acres of land. It is reported that it will train 3000 secrurity personnels every year, out of which 80% will be from Orissa. I wonder if the 10,000 acres number is a typo. If it is not a typo, its kind of puzzling that lots of people are opposed to the Vedanta University, to be made with an investment of 15,000 crores, which asked for 8000 acres to educate 100,000 students and employ 20,000 faculty and staff, while not a peep has been heard about the 10,000 acres for SIS.
April 21st, 2007
Dear Friends:
Its time to convey to the Orissa government that they need to look out for all of Orissa and not just BBSR/CTC/Puri areas.
Following is a draft letter that one can send to the CM (cmo at ori.nic.in) about developing higher education and medical opportunities outside of the BBSR/CTC/Puri area. This is a draft. Please make changes to your liking.
If I missed your favorite location, please add them in your letter.
best regards
Chitta
Continue Reading April 11th, 2007
After a long time and with the Orissa financial situation improving the government of Orissa has lifted the ban on hiring regular faculty in Orissa Universities. For a long time, universities could not hire regular faculty and were hiring faculty on short-term contracts. This had resulted in the lack of quality faculty in the universities and as a result the Orissa universities suffered a lot. The lifting of this ban is an welcome step.
This news is reported in various newspapers. (Sambada, New indian Express)
In the first phase the Orissa government has sanctioned hiring of 70 regular faculty at the four universities of Sambalpur University (47 positions), Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University (4 positions), North Orissa University (Baripada-13 positions) and Fakirmohan University (6 positions). The 6 positions in Fakirmohan University is to start a new program in Applied Physics and Ballistics in collaboration with DRDO. 12 of the positions in the North Orissa University are for 3 newly introduced self-financing courses in biotechnology, business administration and computer science. 1 position in the North Orissa University is for a new department in tribal studies.
April 8th, 2007
Samaja reports that the Orissa Chief minister sent a formal proposal on a KBK Adivasi Central University to the central government on December 23rd 2006.
Earlier, the CM had brought up the issue of a central University in KBK with the HRD minister on Oct 24 2005. (See http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=133)
The MPs Mr. Panda and Ms. Bohidar had asked a question on it in the Rajya Sabha on 19.12.2005 ( See http://164.100.24.219/rsquestion/ShowQn.aspx?qno=109522 ).
March 30th, 2007
Since 1995 Orissa govt has introduced B.Tech programs at the Orissa School of Mining Engineering in Keonjhar (location). However, so far it has very minimal facilities. In 2006, the Orissa governemnt decided to upgrade it and model it after the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad. They have gone around and obtained pledges from various industries operating in that area and have created a budget of 50+ crores to upgrade this school. They have identified 46 acres of land for the the upgraded school. This was reported in various newspapers in late October 2006 (samaja, statesman, tathya). The new industrial policy 2007 (page 12, 10.2.iii) of the Orissa government which was made in March 2007 also states the Orissa government’s plan regarding this school.
March 25th, 2007
The following is from the 2007-08 budget speech:
Means-Cum-Merit Scholarships
20. While the SSA has improved the enrolment ratio in schools to 96 per cent, the drop out ratio continues to be high. The critical year appears to be transition from class VIII to class IX. In order to arrest the drop out ratio and encourage students to continue their education beyond class VIII, I propose to introduce a National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme. Selection will be made through a national test from among students who have passed class VIII. Each student will be given Rs.6,000 per year for study in classes IX, X, XI and XII. I propose that 100,000 scholarships may be awarded every year. In order to fund this programme, I intend to create a corpus fund of Rs.750 crore this year, and add a like amount to the fund every year over the next three years. Accordingly, a sum of Rs.750 crore will be placed with the State Bank of India, and the yield from the fund will be used for awarding the scholarships.
I like the above provision, especially the number of scholarships and the “means” aspect of it. What exactly the “means” cut-off would be remains to be seen. If this scholarship allows poor motivated students to chose the school of their choice then it will be similar to the voucher system used in Michigan. One worry is that the poor students will use the scholarship money for their family expenses and not for their educational expenses. I would also suggest that the number of scholarships be increased by at least 10% every year and the corresponding amout added to the corpus every year. Besides, private donations to the corpus should be encouraged and as the corpus grows the number of scholarships should grow.
February 28th, 2007
Business standard has an article on Manipal’s plan for Orissa. Thanks to Jitu Mishra for the tip.
February 23rd, 2007
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