Dharwad: The Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has urged the Central government to reconsider the proposed setting up of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Dharwad and instead bagged for Raichur.
Siddharamaiah, in a letter the Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said that recently the central government decided to set up Dharwad. However he felt that the proposed IIT should be set up in Raichur.
“Keeping in view of the fact that Raichur is the district headquarters located at Hyderabad-Karnataka backward region and enjoys the special status under Article 371-J of the Constitution of India, it would be appropriate to establish the proposed IIT at Raichur,” the Chief Minister’s letter added.
It may be recalled that the decision of the Union Government to set up an IIT at Dharwad earlier this month, had made the people Dharwad district happy and left politicians belonging to Hubballi-Dharwad claiming credit for bringing the same to Dharwad.
Residents and elected representatives of Raichur, who were disappointed over Raichur not getting the IIT, even staged protests demanding the Institute, to be set up at Raichur.
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah had also come under criticism by various organisations in Raichur for depriving the district of the IIT.
