Warn that bid to shut the noble institute won’t be tolerated
Tribal leaders have protested a campaign against the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) run by its founder Achyutya Samanta.
At a Press conference here, they said that about two lakh family members who are guardians of 22,500 boys and girls studying at the KISS are availing free education and other benefits for their wards. They warned that any conspiracy against the KISS and the Kalinga Institute of Technology (KIIT) would not be tolerated by the tribal community.
They alleged that an attempt is being made to defame the two institutions. Saying that KISS and KIIT founder Samanta has been running the two institutions for 22 long years without receiving any Government assistance or aid from anywhere, they said in the event the KISS is shut down, it would spoil career of thousands of poor tribal kids.
Samanta is not furthering his personal interest through the KISS nor is he running the institute with commercial consideration or profit motive in mind. On the contrary, he has completely dedicated his life and is spending crores of rupees every year in his mission to see smiles on the faces on the 22,500
boys and girls studying at the KISS.
Not only this, every KISS student leaves the campus well-educated and with a job. They are high achievers in academics, sports and other fields at national and international levels. Along with this, 800 KISS students are able to get free professional and vocational education in various streams of the KIIT. Only in the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), 15 KISS students have been pursuing their MBBS free-of-cost. What can be a greater service than this, they asked.
They urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take steps for all-round development of the KISS, including providing subsidised PDS rice to KISS students and land to the institute. They also sought stern action against people who are trying to defame the KISS and its founder.