Orissa education and human resource development

Kolkata, Nov. 7 (PTI): West Bengal, fast emerging as an IT destination, has received the Centre's nod for the setting up of an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and an university in North Bengal in the 11th Plan period, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said today.

"I wrote to HRD Minister Arjun Singh that we need an IIIT in the state besides a new university in north Bengal. He assured me that necessary funds would be made available under the 11th Plan," he said while inaugurating the second campus here of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur.

The Centre has funded the National Institute of Science Education and Research, the second after Bangalore, now operating in the city, while Anil Ambani of Reliance has agreed to set up an institute of communication technology in Kalyani near here, Bhattacharjee said.

Noting that his government is already taking help from IIT-Kharagpur in framing a programme for economic development of the backward districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore, Bhattacharjee said he wanted the IIT to be a partner in development.

Pointing out that the state had problems of pollution, water management, river erosion and arsenic contamination of groundwater, he urged scientific institutions to take the fruits of research to the people.

"During my meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to discuss the 11th Plan proposals, I told him there was a need to not only improve indigenous technology, but also improve research and development," he said.

# posted by chitta @ 9:49 AM