The Koshal State Coordination Committee (KSCOC), Bargarh on Friday demanded that the proposed IIM, Odisha be established in ‘Koshalanchal’ (western Odisha).
KSCOC Bargarh district coordinator Sunil Purohit with students of the Trust Fond College, Women’s College and Panchayat College submitted a memorandum to the President through the Bargarh district Collector on Friday. More than 500 students and KSCOC members took out a rally from the Bargarh Municipality to the Collectorate for the purpose. They alleged that “Koshalanchal which compromises ten districts, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Balangir, Subarnapur, Boudh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh and Athmallick sub-Division of Angul district have been a victim of regional imbalance due to the step motherly attitude of the Naveen Patnaik Government. “The western part is consistently neglected and ignored in spite of contributing about 70 per cent revenue to the State. Almost all Central institutes like IIT, AIIMS, NIFT and National law University are in east Odisha. The western Odisha can provide all logistic support for the proposed IIM,” the memorandum said.The memorandum was also forwarded to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Juel Oram, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and all the MPs and MlAs of western Odisha.