Dear Esteemed Prime Minister and the esteemed Planning Commission

October 6, 2007
Dear Esteemed Prime Minister and the esteemed Planning Commission:
On behalf of the Orissa Society of the Americas (OSA), the main organization of Oriyas in
North America, we would like to bring to your attention the following urgent issues related
to Orissa's growth and progress and the 11th Plan.
But first we would like to convey our heartfelt thanks for your recent higher education
initiatives which you outlined in the last Independence Day speech; in particular, the
announcement regarding 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, and 30 new central Universities with 16
of them going to states that do not have any central university. We sincerely hope that in
picking the locations for these institutions you will keep in mind that although 60 years
have passed since independence, none of the current 7 IITs, 6 IIMs or 23 central
universities were established in Orissa, the 11th largest state of India in terms of
population, the 9th largest in terms of area, and one of the most impoverished states of
India. Yet, Orissa is trying hard and is among the current leading states in trying to
industrialize and it needs your well-deserved support.
We request your attention on four related issues with respect to the 11th Plan and Orissa's
attempt to modernize and bring long-overdue prosperity to its people, nay to the nation, as
a whole.
1. Greenfield IIT in Orissa: As a rapidly industrializing state, we request that one of the
proposed 8 new IITs be established in Orissa. As per a recent Indian Express op-ed
(http://www.indianexpress.com/story/218431.html), Orissa is the top state in India in terms
of projects under implementation in June 2007 (as present in the CMIE Capex database)
with a value of Rs. 242918 crores. When calculated in per-capita terms Orissa is second
behind Haryana. Quoting that article, “Orissa is also a major gainer, particularly over the
last five years. It went from rank 8 to rank 2 over the last five years. While the Indian
average for projects under implementation on a per capita basis grew by 93 per cent,
Orissa gained by 381 per cent over the last five years to reach Rs 61,811 of investment per
capita.” These projects under implementation in Orissa, ranging from ports, steel plants,
and power plants are all related to technology.
The proposed 8 new IITs will take the total number of IITs to 15, and it would be grossly
unfair to Orissa, if after all the pre-work, representations, and arguments made by our Chief
Minister and our Members of Parliament from Orissa (Please see
http://www.orissalinks.com/?p=152 , http://www.orissalinks.com/?p=184), and all the
appeals, requests and protests already made by the people of Orissa (please see
􀂃 Ph: 301-972-8059 􀂃 www.orissasociety.org
http://iitorissa.org for chronicles of the people's effort and the associated media coverage
on this), Orissa, the 11th largest state of India in terms of population and the 9th largest in
terms of area, is still excluded from establishment of an IIT on its soil.
2. Central University in KBK: In regards to your address on August 15th where you said
that 16 of the 30 new central universities will be in states that do not have any, Orissa has
been asking for a Central University in KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region. Thus
we presume that one of these 16 central universities will be in the KBK region of Orissa.
However, since KBK is a vast area, and is the most backward district cluster of India, we
request that this central university in KBK have certain specific features. In particular:
(a) The central university in KBK should be multi-campus, multi-focus (each campus
having a separate but complementary focus on one area, e.g. Engineering, Medical
sciences, or Agriculture etc. ), with campuses in all the District Head Quarter towns in
KBK+ districts, i.e., the eight KBK districts and the adjacent Gajapati and Kandhamal
districts.
(b) This university, to be established in the most backward district clusters of India, should
be treated at par with the central universities in the North East in all respects (such as: it
must have special quotas for tribal citizens and KBK+ residents; it must have the
components that will be in the central universities in the north east.)
3. Second Central University in Orissa: Your address to the planning commission on
September 14th also mentioned that the remaining 30-16= 14 central universities will be
decided on the basis of competition, with respect to location and other incentives from the
State Governments. Since India already has 23 central universities (unfortunately none of
these are located in Orissa) and the new 30 ones will take the total to 53, and Orissa is the
11th largest state of India in terms of population and 9th largest in terms of area, and
among the most backward states of India, we request that Orissa be granted a second
central university. We propose that the second central university in Orissa be an
upgradation of the 150 year old Ravenshaw College, now a University. Some of the
arguments in favor of Ravenshaw University are as follows:
a. Ravenshaw is a unitary university; like most world class universities such as those in
the United States, and like most of the existing central universities in India (such as JNU,
BHU etc.), Ravenshaw does not have any affiliated colleges.
b. Ravenshaw is one of the oldest higher education institutions of India with a glorious
past. Its alumni are almost the who's who of Orissa.
􀂃 Ph: 301-972-8059 􀂃 www.orissasociety.org
c. Ravenshaw's location at the heart the millennium city of Cuttack and also in the middle
of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan area makes it easy to access, and the presence of
top-notch educational and research institutions near it gives Ravenshaw yet stronger
potential of becoming a world-class knowledge hub, i.e. a world class central university. (
In your address to the planning commission you had mentioned this criteria about the "eco
system".)
d. Ravenshaw is already working on plans for its expansion in directions consistent with
the goals of a world class university outlined by the PM.
4. Rail Connectivity to KBK and other backward areas of Orissa: As you are very well
aware these areas are the most backward and poor areas of India; they have a very high
tribal population; and are also infested with extremists. One of the important steps in
uplifting these areas is making them well connected to the rest of India. That is where Rail
connectivity comes to picture. As one of the earlier planning commissions has noted in
http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc :
“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid
social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic
infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like
Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central
Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like
Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out
of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them.
In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa
was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level.”
The Railway ministry has grand plans for the 11th Plan period that includes two freight
corridors, high speed rail, and metro rail in several areas and it has a budget of Rs 251,000
crores. While none of these high flying plans (2 freight corridors, high speed rail segments
and metro rails) are in Orissa, we are not in a position to rue over that; rather we request
that while the rest of India marches forward with 2 freight corridors, high speed rail
segments and metro rails during the 11th Plan, KBK and other adivasi areas of Orissa
and India be not left behind. The particular lines we are referring to are:
(a) Khurda – Balangir, (b) Gunupur--Theruvali, (c) Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna –
Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)
(d) Talcher – Bimlagarh … etc.
􀂃 Ph: 301-972-8059 􀂃 www.orissasociety.org
We understand that Railways is already considering lines related to connectivity to ports
and mineral transportation such as Talcher-Sukinda Rd and Bhadrakh-Dhamara; we are
also mindful that better access to KBK area may potentially be used for undue exploitation
of the KBK region, but we will all remain vigilant. Nevertheless, following the previous
planning commission's observations, to uplift KBK and the other backward areas of
Orissa and India out of the morass they are in, we fervently appeal and request you that
rail connectivity to these areas are completed during the 11th Plan.
To you, Mr. Prime Minister, an economist and planner of development at the highest
level, we do not have to point out that Rail connectivity is a core issue of development for
backward areas like KBK. Without Rail connectivity, KBK will remain, well, as is. Yes,
KBK will remain its backward self for decades to come, unless rail connectivity is
promptly ensured, to spur economic activity through better freight and faster passenger
transport.
Finally, we request that the Railway ministry establish a production unit in the KBK area
of Orissa near by the various proposed steel and aluminium plants. (Currently the major
production units are in Kapurthala - Punjab, Perambur - Tamil Nadu, Varanasi - Uttar
Pradesh, Chittaranjan - West Bengal, Patiala - Punjab and Bangalore - Karnataka; and new
ones have been announced in RaeBareli - UP, Saran district of Bihar, Chhapra - Bihar and
Alappuzha district of Kerala.)
We appreciate your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
For:
Pratap Das
Asutosh Dutta
Priyadarsan Patra
Sandip K. Dasverma