MARGAO: Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco while questioning the need to waste 9 lakh square metres of land to set up an IIT complex that will give no tangible benefits to Goans demanded that at least 50 per cent of the admissions should be reserved to Goan students.
In a letter to Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, he pointed out that the IIT in Mumbai is set up on 2 lakh sq mts of land while that in Chennai occupies 4 lakh sq mts and in view of this questioned the need to allot 9 lakh sq mts of land in Goa for a similar establishment.
While pointing out that land is scarce in Goa where there are dearth of livelihood opportunities, Aleixo argued that it is not prudent to have an IIT campus on 2 lakh sq mts of land and a Technological Park on 4 lakh sq mts in the villages of Cortali and Nagvem in Sanguem taluka.
Instead, he said, it would be advisable to allot the land for Goan start ups or company secretaries or chartered accountants which are totally managed and operated by Goans. He said Goa should learn from countries like Israel, Japan and Singapore to utilize the land for knowledge technology.
Pointing out that the present IIT set up at Goa Engineering College at Farmagudi has only 6.3% Goans employed on contract basis, Reginaldo said the Sanguem attempt should not turn into a land grab where Goans gain nothing.
