Leaders hail Centre's decision to set up IIT in State

The previous BJP and the present Congress governments in the State had been making efforts to get an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) sanctioned for the State, especially in the one of the backward regions, during the last few years.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech on Saturday, announced that an IIT would be set up in the State.

While the BJP government had taken up the issue with the UPA government, the present Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande had written to Union Human Resources Development Minister, Smriti Irani, to sanction an IIT to the State.

Deshpande, in a statement, expressed his gratitude to the Centre for sanctioning the IIT. However, it remains to be seen where the present government would like to establish the IIT.  Deshpande could not be reached as he was touring the interiors of his constituency, Haliyal, in Uttara Kannada district. In a recent interaction with the media, Deshpande had stated that it could be at Raichur or Chikkaballapur.

Former chief minister M Veerappa Moily had sought that the IIT be set up Muddenahalli, the birthplace of Sir M Visvesvaraya in Chikkaballapur. Moily represents Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha constituency.

Raichur recommended

During the BJP regime, a State Cabinet meeting held in Kalaburagi in October 2012, took a decision to recommend to the Centre to set up an IIT in Raichur. The D M Nanjundappa Committee on Regional Imbalances had also recommended the establishment of an IIT in Raichur.

The committee had felt that the establishment of higher centres of education in backward regions would help in removing regional imbalances. The Cabinet decision had been sent to the then Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, with an assurance that the necessary land for setting up the institute of excellence, would be provided by the government.