TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The controversial NIT project may also not find favour with the residents of Betul-Naqueri, where the previous Congress government had acquired land admeasuring seven lakh sq mts to set up a food park.
Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar said though he is not against the NIT coming up in Goa, he says an educational project controlled by the Centre will not be of any benefit to the local youth or citizens.
“In the 90s, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) had acquired a huge chunk of land on the Betul-Naqueri plateau. They had promised us jobs and even business to the local populace. The ground reality is different today. After the land was acquired over two decades ago, the locals have not benefited in any way and have been left to fend for themselves. There’s no control on these central government institutions,” the MLA said.
On the NIT, he wondered whether local youth will get admissions in the institute when they are guided by all-India guidelines. “The land acquired for the food park can be utilised for a general industrial estate which can provide jobs to the local youth. I would not even mind if some institutions and colleges of the state government are mooted on the land, but certainly not for the NIT”, Babu said.
The stand of the Quepem MLA assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of suggestions made by opponents of NIT in Cuncolim to set up the institute on the land acquired for the food park
at Betul.
