By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 2, 2015 :

The Odisha government on Monday recommended setting up the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in western Sambalpur town subject to relaxation in the Central guideline sparking up a row once again.

In a letter to union human resources development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the Centre had sought the opinion of the state government for setting up of the IIM in Western Odisha, particularly in Sambalpur region.

While recommending the sites for the IIM, the HRD ministry, as per its guideline, had asked the state government to identify the location which should be close to an airport. As a result, the state government had restricted its choice to places in and around Bhubaneswar.

“However, if the Centre is willing to relax this guideline for site selection, the state government would strongly recommend Sambalpur as the location of the IIM,” Mr Patnaik said in his letter.

However, protests by industry body, educationists from other regions are pouring in against the state govenrment’s recommendation.

Balasore Chamber of Commerce president, Himanshu Das on Monday alleged that the state government has not even bothered to find out the suitability of Balasore on the National Highway-5 connecting Kolkata and Chennai for locating IIM even as Mrs Irani had sought a report on it.

“I had written letters to Mrs Irani and Mr Patnaik urging them to consider the case of Balasore for locating IIM. The Union HRD minister had asked the state government to consider our case. But the state government did not act on it and instead recommended Sambalpur for locating IIM. Balasore is closer to Kolkata and has no higher educational institution of national importance. How can our case be ignored?”Das quipped.

Some scholars also corroborated Das’s statement, but the higher education controversy in Odisha continues to be a sensitive political issue that has caused legislative walkouts, violence and unrest.

Odisha is routinely discriminated against by the union government, which has caused the state to lag behind the rest of the nation in terms of infrastructure, poverty reduction, literacy, education, and health.