PANAJI: Goa Minister said on Tuesday that the project which extended the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Sanguem could give 2,000 jobs which would benefit the local youth.
Subhash Phal Dessai, who is the Minister for Archives and Archaeology, said that the proposed educational project would help the people in his area. "This project would help to develop this area while taking care of the environment," he said. "It could create up to 2,000 jobs for young people in the area, which would be good for them."
Since the Centre gave Goa an IIT in 2014, the institute has been running out of the Goa Engineering College (GEC) in Ponda as a temporary campus.
Locals are against putting the IIT-Goa campus in Sanguem, and there were also protests in the state capital, Panaji, not long ago.
But Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the project to build IIT-Goa will start in the next six months.
"Only 8 to 10 people were protesting against the project. The media should know what to focus on," Sawant said, adding that this kind of opposition to building things up will not be allowed.
"This government is for the people," said the Chief Minister. "We should all work together for the IIT. Within the next six months, we can lay the foundation stone." He also said that non-teaching jobs will only be given to people who live in the area.
"I ask those who are protesting the project to stop, and if they own land in the proposed area, they should show proof to the collector. It is my job to pay them back."
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