The land acquisition for the prestigious National Institute of Technology in Goa has met with opposition from local villagers who asserted that the coming of the NIT will do more harm than good.
The villagers who have come under the banner of the Cuncolim Citizens Action Committee (CCAC) have made no bones of their suspicions about the project. “We are against it because over 6 lakh sq mts has been allocated for the institute which seems inordinately large. Most of the area is forested and rich in biodiversity. We want the project shifted to the Goa University campus, which has a lot of space spare,” Oscar Martins, a leader of the movement against the project said on Monday.
They have written to the Government to relocate the project to ‘barren land’, even as they have filed their objections to the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the collector. The NIT project in Goa was granted to the State of Goa last year on grounds that Goa had no premier technology institute and students from Goa have to travel to neighbouring States for pursuing quality higher education. The institute currently functions from out of the Goa Engineering College Campus in Ponda.
Earlier the Government had allotted 12-lakh square metres of land, but protest forced the State Government to rethink the strategies and began fresh proceedings for a reduced area of 6-lakh sq metres. The local municipal council has also opposed the project on grounds that the land was either forested or agricultural.
“The local residents should have been taken in confidence before the decision was taken to allot the NIT to Cuncolim,” Devendra Dessai chairman of the Cuncolim Municipal Council said. The Goa Government is, however, keen to pursue the project. Cuncolim legislator who represents the area, Rajan Naik, said that his Government would initiate dialogue with the local residents in order to ensure that the NIT project is implemented.
“I have been assured that locals would get all the preference as far as the employment generated in the NIT is concerned. In respect of seat reservation, Goans are already enjoying 50 per cent seats in the NIT,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator said.