Gowda reiterates demand for IIT in Hassan

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday demanded the setting up of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hassan district, saying it was a long-pending demand since the UPA regime.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on a Bill that seeks to give statutory status to four Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), the Hassan MP lamented that the demand for setting up of an IIT in Karnataka continues to remain unfulfilled even after he made a request to Narendra Modi soon after he became prime minister.

“It (setting up of an IIT) was promised by the UPA government, but could not be fulfilled due to various political considerations, which I do not want to go into. I also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I request the Human Resource Development Minister (Smriti Irani) and the Government of India to sanction setting up of an IIT in Hassan district,” he said.

Gowda told the House that the proposal to set up an IIT in Karnataka was pending with the Centre, even as the State government recommended it and acquired land for it.