Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been urged to take appropriate steps to open the proposed regional campus of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), Amarkantak in Kalahandi district.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Associate Professor in the American University of Beirut Digambara Patra said the Department of Higher Education (DHE) of the State has not yet taken serious move for the proposed branch of the IGNTU in the district since the past four years.
Earlier, the IGNTU at Amarkantak had received a proposal from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) to open a regional campus at Kalahandi. As per the policy of the University, the State Government was informed on August 24, 2010 to provide infrastructure facilities like a minimum of 300 acres of land, approach road and electricity supply and accordingly the State Government was asked to facilitate with the infrastructure facilities, no response was received from the State Government, said the university sources, adding, “The proposal is still pending with the State Government.”
The State Government had tried to find out suitable land in Kandhamal district, but it could not be materialised. Since then no action has been taken by the DHE, Patra alleged.
The educationist said Kalahandi is better than Kandhamal in terms of land availability, communication, electricity and water facility. It can serve nine tribal dominated districts of the State, he said, adding, “There are many other suitable Government sites in Kalahandi including a site near Kesinga having all required infrastructure for such an establishment.”
Patra said the carelessness of the DHE has delayed three years to establish the IGNTU campus in Kalahandi. The university authority at Amarkantak is waiting for a suitable land in the district, but the State Government’s lackadaisical attitude is creating confusion in the mind of the Kalahandi people, he added.
