Representatives of all political parties and various organisations at a meeting in Rourkela on Sunday. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Aug. 31: The demand for setting up the proposed IIM here gained momentum with an all-party convention today pressing for the demand.

Representatives of all political parties and various organisations, including the Bar Association, took part at the meeting held here today.

Prominent among the speakers were former principal of erstwhile Regional Engineering College (now National Institute of Technology) Somnath Mishra and present director Sunil Sarangi.

Both opined that setting up the IIM would go a long way in removing the regional imbalance in the state. Sarangi said: “It will assuage the feeling of neglect here.”

Mishra said: “Absence of an airport is not a very big issue, which can be tackled soon. But first let the institute come.” Sarangi suggested that the IIM could function on NIT campus for the first year. “Once the infrastructure is ready, it can be shifted to the new campus,” he said.

Local MLA Dillip Ray said he had already taken appointment with Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani. “I have also sought an appointment with the Prime Minister after September 15,” he said.

Ray urged all to form an all-party body and come fully prepared to meet the Prime minister and human resources development minister.

President of BJD local unit Ananda Mohanty said that Rourkela Steel Plant had surplus land under its jurisdiction and easily 200 acres could be arranged for the proposed IIM building. BJP local unit president Dhiren Senapaty and former Congress MLA Prabhat Mohapatra urged for a united fight. Almost all the participants agreed that a team consisting of all the seven MLAs of the district and the two MPs should meet the chief minister and apprise him about the necessity of IIM here.