Protests over Andhra IIT location intensify
Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 18:30 IST
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Hyderabad: Protests over locating an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Andhra Pradesh's Medak district instead of the long promised Basara in Telengana region have intensified, with a Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MP quitting and activists taking to the streets. TRS MP from Adilabad, T. Madhusudhan Reddy, Tuesday handed over a letter addressed to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to Telugu Desam Party leader S. Venugopalachary at a meeting at Basara. Attended by leaders of all parties, barring the ruling Congress, the meeting set up a committee to intensify the agitation. The TRS MP said he was resigning from the house to register his protest against the state government's unilateral decision to go back on its earlier proposal to set up the IIT in Basara, the seat of a famous Saraswati temple. According to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Nanded D.B. Patil, an IIT in Basara would benefit the backward regions of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Asking the government not to reject the claims of Basara on the grounds that it had no air connectivity, Patil said an international airport was coming up at Nanded, just 60 km from Basara. Adilabad district has been witness to noisy protests ever since the government announced that the IIT would be set up in Medak, near Hyderabad. While Bhainsa town in the district observed a shutdown for five days, in Chennur town, students took out a procession Wednesday and stoned buses. Two people were injured in the incident. Public representatives in neighbouring districts of Nizamabad and Karimnagar as well as Nanded in Maharashtra have also lent their support to the umbrella group of political parties, students and activists, IIT Sadhana Samiti. Even Congress leaders of north Telangana region have extended their support to the agitation. Congress MP from Nizamabad, Madhu Yashki Goud, backed the demand for an IIT at Basara and urged the government to reconsider its stand saying: "It is an ideal place for IIT and has all the facilities." The government, however, has made it clear that the IIT would come up only in Medak. It argues that the location would satisfy all requirements like air, rail and road connectivity. TRS, which is fighting for separate statehood to Telangana region, alleges that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy is trying to make a strong case for Greater Hyderabad by setting up an IIT near Hyderabad. TRS is opposed to suggestions that Hyderabad be given the status of a union territory in the event of Telangana becoming a separate state.
Source: IANS
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