Goa government identifies land for IIT, will stake claim for jobs: Minister
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A 7.50 lakh square-metre land has been identified in South Goa's Sanguem constituency for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), a Minister said here.
"We will take care that no destruction of the environment takes place here," the state's Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Dessai told IANS.
The Minister said he visited the proposed site with officials from the IIT and state government to acquaint themselves with the area.
"It is government land and there are few encroachments in the area. However, we will speak to encroachers and will try to rehabilitate them," he said.
Earlier, the IIT project was proposed in Shel-Melauli village of Sattari Taluka in North Goa. But it was cancelled after the government faced agitations by locals.
"We will see that such things do not happen here and this project is not objected. I will take all into confidence, before going ahead with this project," Dessai told IANS.
Started in July 2016, the IIT campus is temporarily housed in Goa Engineering College (GEC) in Ponda.
According to Dessai, the land identified at Sanguem is not cultivated for a long time and those who have encroached the area were not objected by the government.
He said that apart from identified land, the government is trying for additional land and for that negotiations are on.
"We will take all into confidence before going ahead with this project," he reiterated.
Dessai said that on the lines of Mopa Airport, they will stake claim in jobs for all affected people and jobs to Goans.
"When we sacrifice (our land), then we should have a stake for prosperity," he said.
