Ranchi: State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon requested the Centre to consider granting an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Ranchi to boost technical education in the state. He also wrote to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman to approve the 790-km road project under the Bharatmala scheme to link Sahibganj-Dumka-Dhanbad-Purulia-Chandil-Bahragora and Dhamra port in Odisha to create a special corridor to facilitate smooth movement of goods.
Speaking to mediapersons on Wednesday in Ranchi, Oraon said he also offered other suggestions during a video-interaction with Sitaraman ahead of the Union budget. “An IIT in Ranchi will further boost the education sector in this state and tribal students will have an opportunity to avail world-class technical studies. We currently don’t have enough technical institutes of national and international repute here,” said Oraon. Notably, ISM Dhanbad was granted an IIT status by Union government couple of years back.
Among the other key demands, he said that a push for roads and rail services are in his wish-list for the budget. “Under the ambitious Bharatmala Project of the Union government, I have appealed the Centre to sanction connectivity from Sahibganj-Dharma to strengthen port and cargo activities. I am hopeful that it will happen soon. This apart, we are also demanding four-laning of three national highways — 23, 79 and 2 — passing through our state and increasing days of operation of Rajdhani, Lokmanya Tilak and Garib Rath trains from Jharkhand,” he said.
On the financial aspects, he said he has been stressing on increasing the financial assistance from the Centre as with the imposition of the Goods and Services Taxes, the state’s own earnings have squeezed. “But most importantly, I am now demanding the Centre to release our share on first of every month against the current practice of doing so on 20th day of the month. It is because we often have to take loans to meet up our expenses which are become burden on the exchequer,” he said.
Meanwhile, party spokespersons Alok Dubey, Lal Kishorenath Shahdeo and Rajesh Gupta, who were also present on the occasion, asked BJP MPs to fight for Jharkhand’s rights in the upcoming budget. “While every other day state BJP MLAs and its MPs are holding conferences to level allegations against the state government, the entire state will be watching to see how much benefit can the MPs manage in favour of Jharkhand in the upcoming Union budget. Jharkhand has given 12 out of 14 MPs to BJP. Hence, it is time for them to stand for the rights and demands of the state,” they said.