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As protest against IIT garners support, Goa CM offers parley but with condition
CM Sawant’s statements come even as the villagers protesting against the IIT project have hardened their stance.
By Gerard de Souza
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said he was open to 'discuss' with the villagers protesting against the IIT project but that the government would not withdraw its proposal to build the IIT at the site that has been identified.
Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, Sawant said that the ‘unrest’ in the village needed to settle down
“We are open to discuss the issue. The government is ready to discuss it. We want to make the IIT there. We do not want to cause them (the villagers) any trouble. I do not want to cause anybody any trouble or inconvenience but they should support us in the development,” Sawant said.
When asked if he would visit the protesting villagers to discuss the issue, Sawant replied in the negative.
“They should come and meet me. I have already visited the village once,” he said adding that first, the unrest needs to settle down.
Sawant’s statements come even as the villagers protesting against the IIT project have hardened their stance and demanded the release of all those arrested in connection with the clashes. They also seek the withdrawal of cases filed against the villagers for rioting and the suspension of the police inspector Sagar Ekoskar, who they say is responsible for provoking the violence on January 6. Ekoskar is accused of stomping over the protesting villagers who had set up a blockade by sleeping across the entrance of the site in a bid to stop government surveyors.
“We are giving the government 10 days to withdraw the decision to build the IIT in our village. We are firm that we do not want the IIT to come up here. Today, people from many villages and the rest of Goa have come to support us,” Shubham Shivolkar, co-convener of the organisation set up to oppose the IIT project, said.
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“PI Ekoskar should be booked, he should be terminated and legal action should be initiated against him,” Shivolkar said.
The villagers have received support from the neighbouring villages of Mauxi, Damashe from where villagers marched in support of their neighbours. Despite the efforts of the police to curtail the procession of villagers from neighbouring villages to the protest site, agitation swelled on Monday.
Sawant said that the demarcation work would resume after the issue had settled down.
What began as murmurs of discontent against the proposed IIT, the agitation gathered pace after the government decided to fast track the project.
In May last year, the Goa government had formally transferred around 10 lakh sq. metres of land in Melaulim village in North Goa for setting up of IIT-Goa. Functional since 2014, IIT Goa has been functioning from a temporary campus at the Goa Engineering College.
Two sites previously identified by the state government, in Canacona and Sanguem sub-districts, for setting up of a permanent campus for IIT were scrapped in face of protests from residents.
Two people arrested by the police for their alleged role in the violence of last week were granted bail by a local court on Monday.
