The ongoing agitation for an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Raichur would soon be shifted to Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
Addressing the media here on Friday, IIT Horata Samiti president Basavaraj Kalasa said that Lok Sabha members, MLAs, MLCs and other people’s representatives from the Hyderabad Karnataka region would participate in the indefinite agitation in Bengaluru. He urged the people of Hyderabad Karnataka residing in Bengaluru to participate in the agitation which would be launched next week.
“The ongoing agitations in Raichur will also continue. But the focus will be on Bengaluru as it will have a direct impact on the centre of power,” Mr. Kalasa said.
He attacked the Union and State governments equally for deliberately ignoring the protests in Raichur and other parts of the Hyderabad Karnataka region for the premier institute.
“There is no response from the Union Ministry for Human Resources Development to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter that clearly urged for the IIT to be located in Raichur. The State government is also not making any serious effort after dispatching a letter on the 16th of last month,” he said.
He also criticised for State government’s contradictory stand on the issue. “On the one hand, the Chief Minister writes to the Union government with a fresh recommendation of Raichur as the location for the IIT. On the other hand, Bharat Lal Meena, principal secretary of Higher Education, the portfolio currently under the Chief Minister, has initiated the process of setting up a transit campus of IIT in Dharwad. The government must clarify its stand,” he said.
‘Prejudiced report’
Mr. Kalasa termed the Central site selection committee’s report as prejudiced for favouring Dharwad. He alleged that the report was prepared well before the team visited and evaluated all the three sites: Mysuru, Dharwad and Raichur.
“It was not a report of an expert committee. The report was prepared by Hubballi-Dharwad based BJP leaders, Pralhad Joshi, Ananth Kumar and Jagadish Shettar, well in advance of the arrival of the Central team to Karnataka, and merely signed by the site selection committee members,” he alleged.
The report highlighted positive factors in Dharwad and Mysuru and negative aspects in Raichur, he said. “The report says that there is round-the-clock drinking water supply system in Hubballi-Dharwad. As a matter of fact, people in those twin-cities get water only once in three days. The ongoing agitation for Kalasa-Banduri project was all about providing drinking water to the twin cities,” he pointed out.
Raichur MLA Shivaraj Patil said lack of strong district leadership in the Congress and the BJP was the reason for Raichur having lost in the IIT race.
“District BJP leaders could not stop their State leaders from lobbying for Dharwad and the district Congress leaders failed to ensure that their State government proposed Raichur alone for the institute,” he said.
Activists Ambanna Arolikar, Ravindra Jaldar, Gangadhar Swamy, M.R. Bheri, Virupakshi and others were present.
