TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Work on National Institute of Technology (NIT) proposed to be set up at Cuncolim will start either on June 2 or in December, this year.
Making the announcement in Cuncolim on Friday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Goa will not only have the NIT but also other significant educational institutes with
the BJP taking over the reigns in Delhi.
The CM clarified that the state government was not responsible for the delay in completing the land acquisition process or starting the actual work on the project. “The NIT project problem was not ours. They wanted only a particular location and that too on land admeasuring 300 acres. We felt that they were asking far too much land and finally we got it reduced to 4.57 lakh sq mts from 12 lakh sq mts proposed during the Congress regime”, Parrikar said.
The Chief Minister said his government has given bare minimum land for the NIT to set shop in the state, but hastened to add that the government has managed to get 50 per cent seats for Goan students. “Sometimes patience pays. The centre was willing to give us only 25 percent seats in the NIT, but we have now managed to get 50 per cent seats for Goan students”, he added.
Saying that no one should harbour any thought that NIT would move out of the state, Parrikar said his government can now get two NITs with the BJP ruling at the centre. “Not only NIT, but Goa would soon get important educational institutes in the state”, he added.
The proposed NIT at Cuncolim had kicked up a row with the proposal coming in for opposition from certain quarters, while being welcomed by many others from the town. The government had recently published section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, indicating its resolve to go ahead with the educational project.
