Raichur: The decision of setting an IIT in Dharwad has not come in to good terms with the neighboring cities.
Earlier the centre had considered Raichur and Mysuru for establishing the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), however this sudden shift has agitated the loal in the region.
Several civil society organizations, educational institutions, Dalit groups, Kannada organizations and Hyderabad-Karnataka based outfits have called for a bandh on Thursday.
All taluk and hobli centres, along with district headquarter are likely to participate in the agitation. Congress, BJP, JD(S) and Left parties also have announced their support to the bandh call.
Parasal Sukhani, president of Taranath Shikshana Samsthe, making the announcement that all the educational institutions would be closed to participate in the agitation. He held political leaders of Raichur district, irrespective of their party affiliations, responsible for Raichur losing out on the IIT.
“It is an utter failure on the part of political leaders in persuading the State and Union governments for establishing the premier institute in Raichur,” he said.
Speaking to presspersons at Manvi, Congress MLA Hampayya Naik said that his constituency would observe the bandh protesting against the Union government’s decision.
“The BJP betrayed the aspirations of the people of Hyderabad-Karnataka by snatching the proposed IIT from Raichur that had all infrastructure, connectivity and resources required for the institute,” he said.