Setting up of an IIT in Dharwad will be of no use if local students are not given at least 25 per cent of the seats, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi said here on Sunday.
Speaking at the 82nd all India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan valedictory, the Minister urged the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to lead a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that students from the State were granted the quota.
He also urged Mr. Yeddyurappa to help establish the proposed Indian Institute of Information Technology in Raichur.
“We should not indulge in party politics when it comes to development. We should all try to work together,” he said. Mr. Yeddyurappa urged the State government to install a statue of Bhuvaneshwari in Bengaluru.
“When I was the Chief Minister, I made a promise to the State saying I will unveil a Bhuvaneshwari statue at a cost of Rs. 25 crore. That could not happen. I request the State government to do so. If they don’t do it, we will do it sometime in future when good times prevail,” he said.
He hailed the Hyderabad Karnataka region for its communal and linguistic harmony. This region has produced Sharanas and Dasas of great repute. “We should be thankful to all of them for showing the way forward for us,” he said.
