Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 2: The state government’s recommendation to the Centre to set up the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Sambalpur was promptly met with a backlash by Opposition parties who said the move reeked of opportunistic politics.
The Congress and BJP attacked the state government for announcing Sambalpur as its preferred destination for the proposed IIM, with elections to the newly-created Sambalpur Municipal Corporation round the corner.
“If the government really intended to set up the institution in Sambalpur, it could have made its recommendation much earlier. As Sambalpur is going to municipal polls soon, it is possible that there is political motive behind the recommendation,” said BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma.
“It is a welcome step that the proposed IIM is likely to be set up in Western Orissa. But as we were demanding from the very beginning that the institute be established in the steel city, the government could have recommended Rourkela as the preferred location,” another BJP leader and Rourkela MLA Dillip Ray said.
Hitting out at both the BJD government in the state and the NDA government at the Centre, Opposition chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said both governments were playing petty politics over the issue of where to set up the prestigious institute.
“Both the state and Central governments are attempting to create divisive feelings in the state through this move. If the Union government has indeed relaxed the norms, why should not the institute be set up in Koraput or KBK region, that happens to be more underdeveloped than Sambalpur?” asked Bahinipati, adding the state government’s move was only to gain political mileage ahead of the Sambalpur municipal polls.
However, justifying the state’s decision, BJD leader Raseswari Panigrahi said, “Earlier, the state had recommended to set up the IIM in Bhubaneswar as per the guidelines issued by the Centre. But now, after the MHRD planned to relax the norms, the state took a decision to
propose Sambalpur as the location
for the IIM.”
