SOSA demands IIM-Berhampur

The South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has demanded the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to be set up at Berhampur. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, SOSA has pointed out that the major city in South Odisha is going without a centrally funded Institute so far.

There were several opportunities in recent years to correct this anomaly and assuage the public sentiments by establishing one such Institute in Berhampur city, however no such attempt was ever made.

Since the Government of Odisha in recent months has reaffirmed its commitment to the development of Southern Odisha, it becomes an imperative that prompt efforts are made to establish the IIM sanctioned for Odisha in Berhampur city at the earliest.

Berhampur city has been the principal centre for business and commerce since the pre-independence years given its close proximity to the sea coast. It has also been the only centre for higher education and health in the entire region of Southern Odisha. Establishment of the propose IIM would therefore play the role of a catalyst in the development of this region.

Odisha has so far established several premier Institutes like IIT, AIIMS, NISER, IIPH, NIFT at Bhubaneswar, NIT and BPUT at Rourkela, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, VSSUT at Sambalpur, IIMC at Dhenkanal, National Steel Institute at Puri, CIPET & AIIMS mini campus at Balasore and Central University in Koraput. Therefore, the establishment of IIM at Berhampur will lead to better distribution of Central Institutions in the State.

Second, the Planning Commission data suggests that Ganjam District and several other southern Odisha Districts are at the bottom in-terms of gross enrolment ratio in higher education. IIM in Berhampur will help in building a knowledge cluster in the heart of the most underdeveloped pocket of India leading to a virtuous circle.

Third, Berhampur is the second biggest urban cluster in the state of Odisha with sound communication infrastructure with all parts of the country and the establishment of the IIM will be a great advantage for the city and its future development.

Finally, Berhampur city is considered as the gateway to the vast region of South Odisha and KBK. Given its strategic location, prospects of industrial investment, human resource potential, moderate weather conditions and its connectivity with all the major cities of the state and India, Berhampur will certainly be an ideal location to host the proposed IIM.

As far as the suitability of Berhampur city to host an IIM is concerned, recently the Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to locate the proposed IIM in the State at Dhaulakuan.

There are several other instances in recent times - the IIM in Haryana has been established at Rohtak, the IIM in Tamil Nadu is located at Tirchy, IIM in Rajasthan is located at Udaipur and the IIM in Uttarakhand is located in Kashipur. As is evident, none of these are the capital cities of their respective States.

In fact, some of these cities are much smaller in size as compared to Berhampur. Additionally, the city has the advantage of a city which is well connected with rest of India by road and rail, a city with STPI, University, Medical college, a dozen odd engineering colleges, two SEZs, upcoming port, airport apart from a host of tourist destinations are also located close by

The IIM will not only place Berhampur city as a major knowledge hub of the state but will also work as an impetus for industrialization and development of southern Odisha and improve the overall prosperity of the State, pointed out SOSA.

Source- Tathya.in, Orissadiary.com