The demand for setting up of the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Odisha at Brahmapur gained further momentum with several organisations, volunteer groups and political parties holding a rally here for the purpose on Tuesday.
The demand has gathered steam particularly after the Union HRD Secretary’s letter to the State Chief Secretary to suggest three suitable places for consideration of the IIM location. Brahmapur is yet to have any national-level institute though other cities like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Rourkela do have.
There is a strong public perception here against the silence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue though he represents Ganjam district in the State Assembly.The local public feels that if Brahmapur, the educational and commercial hub of south Odisha, is deprived of IIM location, it is the Chief Minister and the local BJD MP who would be held responsible for it.
BJP leader and former Assembly Deputy Speaker Rama Chandra Panda said heritage city Brahmapur justifies all the criteria for its claim for the IIM. There are around 30 colleges in and around the city, including a university, a medical college, a Defense college and an airstrip.
The city, located ideally in the Kolkata-Chennai railway route, does not have a single institution of national importance. Bhubaneswar is already overcrowded with a galaxy of national institutions, he added.Earlier, the Forum for IIM, which was constituted with intellectuals and senior citizens led by Prof PK Sahu as its chairperson, spearheaded the movement for establishment of IIM at Brahmapur. Even a delegation of the forum along with the local MlA met the CM in Bhubaneswar on Monday last week.
The forum has started a campaign to collect signatures of 50,000 locals in support of the demand. A rickshaw puller and a blind person voluntarily came to sign the document.The forum has already submitted a memorandum to the district Collector, the CM and the Union HRD Ministry. It is also contemplating to start an online campaign to motivate local youths to join the movement.
Among others who are taking leading roles in the movement are senior advocate S Pati, JS Giri Rao, VVRN Rao, J Suresh, Jagdish Rao, Biswambar Panda, Susant Sabat, Sudhir Kumar Sabat and other intellectuals and members of the chambers of commerce.Former Union Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu also said that due to negligence of the State Government, Brahmapur was deprived of getting IIT which was sanctioned during the first UPA rule.
If IIM is not established here, the local MP would be answerable to the public since it is a Central issue, he added. Other Congress leaders Bikramkesari Panda and DCC president Bhagaban Gantayat in a statement demanded setting up of the IIM here.
The Dakhin Odisha Unnayan Parishad led by its convenor Rabi Rath staged an impressive rally in which hundreds of youths, senior citizens, social workers, students, political functionaries and intellectuals with candle in hand marched from the Khallikote College to Gandhinagar Square demanding IIM at Brahmapur.
They sat on dharna in front of the Gandhi statue. Among others, youth leader Bibhuti Jena, Sangram Padhi, Prabhat Mohanty, Nimaicharan Panigrahi, Prabhat Kiran Sadangi, Sagar Tripathy, Siba Patra; VVRN Rao, VV Raju, Santosh Sahu; Rameshchandra Chyau Pattnaik, Prafulla Jagannath Padhi, Md Sajid Hussain and T Raghuprasad Patra from across political affiliations joined the procession.
Similarly, intellectuals and voluntary groups at a meeting criticised the State Government for “deliberately neglecting” the interest of Ganjam district and unanimously decided to intensify the agitation further.
The Ganjam Zilla Vikas Manch led by its president Bhukant Sahu and secretary Dillip Kumar Choudhury in a memorandum to the Chief Minister urged him to impress upon the Union Government to set up the IIM at Brahmapur, which now takes only two hours in superfast train to reach the State capital. The IIM can conduct its classes temporarily in the Berhampur University campus, they argued.
The Bhanja Vikash Manch also demanded selection of Brahmapur not only for IIM but also for the Central Government’s proposed Smart City project and a private airport. The Manch has submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister and Union HRD and Civil Aviation Ministers in this regard.
“While getting 36,000 votes an elected representative could become a member of the State Cabinet, we will collect signatures of 50,000 people in support of our demand, which Naveen Patnaik has to accept,” a Manch leader remarked