The South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has demanded that the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for Odisha be set up in Brahmapur.
In a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, SOSA convener Siba Prasad has pointed out that this major city in south Odisha is going without a Centrally-funded institute so far. There were several opportunities in recent years to correct this anomaly and assuage the public sentiments by establishing one such institute in Brahmapur, but no such attempt was
ever made.
Since the State Government in recent months has reaffirmed its commitment to development of southern Odisha, it is imperative that prompt efforts are made to establish the proposed IIM for Odisha in Brahmapur at the earliest, the memorandum said. Brahmapur has been the principal centre for business and commerce since the pre-Independence years. It has also been the only centre for higher education and health in the entire southern Odisha.
Odisha has so far had several premier institutes like the IIT, AIIMS, NISER, IIPH and NIFT located in Bhubaneswar, NIT and BPUT at Rourkela, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, VSSUT at Sambalpur, IIMC at Dhenkanal, National Steel Institute at Puri, CIPET and AIIMS mini campus at Baleswar and Central University in Koraput. Therefore, establishment of IIM at Brahmapur would lead to better distribution of Central institutions in the State, the memorandum argued.
Besides, the Planning Commission data suggest that Ganjam district and several other southern Odisha districts are at the bottom in terms of gross enrolment ratio in higher education. An IIM in Brahmapur would help build a knowledge cluster in the heart of the underdeveloped pocket of India. Brahmapur is the State’s second biggest urban cluster with a sound communication infrastructure with all parts of the country and establishment of the IIM would be a great advantage for the city’s future development, the memorandum said.