Berhampur, Nov. 4: The Forum for IIM here today staged a relay dharna for an indefinite period demanding the establishment of the Indian Institute of Management in Ganjam.
Cutting across party affiliations, leaders and MLAs from all political parties have extended support to the demand for having the proposed institute here.
Narayan Reddy of the CPI accused the state government of discrimination against the district. “Of 21 premier and national institutes in the state, barring the Central University in Koraput, all of them are established in the northern part of the state.”
The issue of identifying the location for the institute, which is supposed to start its academic session from next year, is fast snowballing into a controversy. Residents of Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Balasore have been demanding the allotment of the institute.
On October 28, the human resources department asked the state government to decide on the location of the proposed institute within two weeks. According to the guidelines, the location must have adequate infrastructure, including 200 acres of land with air and railway links. Official sources said the state government was veering around to the view that the institute should be located near Bhubaneswar. At the next meeting with the department, the state government will have to formally communicate its decision.
Leaders, who are vouching for Berhampur to be its location, have stated that an airstrip exists in the city since World War II. It could be converted into an airport to help the communication. Besides, the city is midway between Vishakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar.
Besides, the city can also be reached by a two-hour drive from Bhubaneswar and three-hour drive from Vishakhapatnam, said Trinath Maharana, a retired teacher. The city is also well connected by the railways. The institute’s temporary location could be the Berhampur University, which has the required infrastructure. Besides, a full-fledged port is also coming up at Gopalpur. The leaders supporting the movement included BJD leader V. Sugnana Kumari Deo, Ganjam district Congress committee president Bhagaban Gantayat, former deputy speaker of the Assembly Ramchandra Panda and Bibhuti Bhushan Jena (both from the BJP) and CPI leader Narayan Reddy.