TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: There’s no proposal for quota of seats or jobs for local youth in the proposed National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Cuncolim, even as the Directorate of Technical Education has asked for funds to the tune of Rs 30 crore to initiate land acquisition proceedings to acquire a whopping 120 acres for its establishment.
Director of Technical Education Vivek Kamat said Goan students are already enjoying the benefits of 50 per cent seats in the NIT in the last one year and added that there’s no proposal to reserve certain quota of seats for students of Cuncolim in the institute in lieu of land proposed to be acquired by the government. “There’s no proposal from our side for reservation of seats for students of Cuncolim or jobs for the locals in the proposed institute,” Kamat said.
Replying to a question, Kamat said that the Directorate of Technical Education has asked for Rs 30 crore from the government to acquire the whopping land. “The money is required to be deposited with the Revenue authorities before Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act is notified by the land acquisition officer,” Kamat said.
Meanwhile, divergent views are emanating from Cuncolim on the acquisition of the land for the proposed institute. While local MLA Rajan Naik is toeing the line of the government in favour of the project, a local organisation led by Oscar Martins has questioned the logic behind setting up the institute on the proposed area.
On the other hand, President of the Cuncolim Citizens Forum Mario Moraes has welcomed the proposal, while expressing his gratitude to both the Chief Minister and Local MLA for minimizing the acquisition of land from 12.67 lakh sq mts to 5.75 lakh sq mts. He appreciated the government decision to drop excessive areas of Balli from the land acquisition, which comprised of two hillocks covered by forested areas.
Moraes, however, has favoured reservation of certain percentage of seats for local students besides jobs for the local unemployed youth in the proposed NIT.
MLA Rajan said the government’s decision to set up the NIT has found favour with the people of Cuncolim. He, however, promised to take up with the Chief Minister the question of reservation of seats and jobs for the local people.
