SOSA demands establishment of NID at Berhampur

The South Orissa Students’ Association (SOSA) has urged the Orissa Chief Minister to locate the proposed National Institute of Design (NID) at Berhampur in South Orissa. The Organization has requested the state government to uphold the principle of distributive justice in knowledge infrastructure and to consider locations outside the state capital for the upcoming centrally funded Institutes like NID and NIFT as all the centrally funded Institutes announced in the last few years except the Central University, like NISER, AIIMS, IIT, IIIT, WCU have been established in the capital region. In a letter written to the state Chief Minister and the Union Commerce Minister, the Organization has made a strong appeal for locating the proposed NID at Berhampur, the principal city of South Orissa.
Last Month the Chief Minister of Orissa has met the Union Commerce and Textile Ministers and had impressed upon them to establish NIFT and NID in the state during the Eleventh Plan Period. Both the Union Ministers also showed their willingness for locating the NID and NIFT in Orissa. But, as some circles in the government are trying to have both the institutes in the capital, it has generated a lot of resentment in the Tier II cities like Berhampur and Rourkela. SOSA has appreciated the concern of the State Chief Minister for the development of backward and tribal dominated regions of the state and has urged that the establishment of the NID at Berhampur which is closer to the KBK region and the tribal hinterland of south orissa will be in line with the stated policy of the government for the development of backward regions of the state.