While neighbouring State Andhra Pradesh is going ahead with setting up of two Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), it is apprehended that Odisha will miss the bus.
Reminders from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to various States including Odisha have not yielded any result in presenting a detailed project report (DPR) by the Odisha Government for such institutions.
Recently, HRD Minister Smriti Irani revealed in lok Sabha that DPRs from Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Goa are still awaited. However, Andhra Pradesh is going ahead with all-out steps to set up two IIITs, one at Chittor and the other at Kakinada.
Way back in 2010, the Union Cabinet had approved a scheme based on public -private partnership (PPP) mode for setting up 20 new IIITs in the country of which Odisha got one. The MHRD with an outlay of `2,808.71 crore proposed to set up the IIITs. Sixteen IIITs have been approved with the proposals from 15 States, which are going ahead with the projects.
Now, leading non-resident Odia (NRO) educationist Professor Chitta Baral has urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take with the issue of setting up of two IIITs in the State as AP has done it. Prof Baral, who teaches in the University of Arizona of US, is worried over the delay in responding to the Union Government’s proposal to send a DPR on IIIT.
While the NDA Government seems favourable to Odisha in sanctioning projects, he urged the State Government to set up an IIIT at Cuttack and another at Brahmapur. The Union Government can be approached to support both even if the total fund it is supposed to give is `64 crore as before.
The original plan was Rs 128 crore for an IIIT with the Centre giving 50% (`64 crore), State 35% (`54 crore) and industry 15% (`10 crore). So for two IIITs, the Centre can still give the same `64 crore, the two industry partners `10 crore each and the State can put in the rest, suggested Prof Baral.
If the Centre does not agree to this, one of the new IIITs can be based on the Centre’s suggested PPP scheme and the State can do the other one in partnership with industry, said Prof Baral.
A committee was formed by the State Government to evaluate the proposals. The two proposals that were ranked the highest have ties to Cuttack (RSB group) and undivided Ganjam district. The State Government could not decide between the two and has been sitting on both proposals for about two years, revealed a senior official.
Interestingly, Andhra Pradesh was smart in doing that and got two new IIITs in the new Seemandhra State, said the official.