Cuttack, April 7: When chief minister Naveen Patnaik's helicopter lands at Ravenshaw University's makeshift helipad tomorrow, he will be doing it for the first time. The apparent reason for Naveen to shun the 32km road ride and take the air route is security.
Naveen will be here tomorrow to attend the annual function of the Ravenshaw University students' union.
The district administration has built a helipad on the campus to facilitate the chopper to land, an official source said.
Though Naveen has never flown into the varsity campus, this is not his maiden air trip to Cuttack. In January this year, Naveen flew into the city to pay tributes to the departed Justice R.K. Patra, who was heading the one-man commission of inquiry into the fraudulent activities of sham deposit collection companies in the state.
As for tomorrow's visit, security has been tightened to ensure that the chief minister does not face any untoward incident at the university.
"We will deploy nearly 12 platoons of police to ensure foolproof security for the chief minister on the campus," said deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Arora. Barricades have also been set up across the campus.
Elaborate security measures have been taken in the city in view of the incident in Bhubaneswar on February 19, when Naveen was on his way to Utkal University. A group of Youth Congress students had hurled eggs at his carcade.
Later, authorities suspended three police officials, including the carcade in-charge, for security lapses. Taking no chances, the police have so far arrested 18 student activists in Bhubaneswar.
Earlier, during the chief minister's visit to Cuttack, political parties, especially the Congress workers, had staged demonstrations.
The students' union of Ravenshaw University has decided to submit a memorandum to the chief minister, seeking additional funds for the varsity's development.
"The chief minister had announced a special package for Utkal University, and we are looking forward to a similar announcement for us as well," said students' union president Sithapragyan Mohanty.
He said the government must intervene and expedite construction of the second Ravenshaw University campus.
The varsity officials admitted that there had been an inordinate delay in release of funds for the proposed campus as the present one was struggling to accommodate more than 8,000 students.
"We want a special package for Ravenshaw University and a lot more needs to be done for an over all development of the premier educational institution," said Akash Gupta, another student.
