The Rs 15,000-crore Vedanta University project funded by the Anil Agarwal Foundation has faced a fresh round of stiff protests both within the Orissa legislative assembly and on the Puri-Konark marine drive, the site of the university project.
In a show of strength, hundreds locals under the banner of Vedanta Vishwavidyalaya Virodhi Samiti (VVVS), the organisation spearheading the movement against the university project, staged a road blockade on the Puri-Konark marine drive from 7 am to 6 pm today.
“The locals are strongly opposed to the Vedanta University Bill introduced by the state government in the Assembly. There is a consensus among the locals that no land on the Puri-Konark marine drive would be ceded for the university project”, said Uma Ballav Rath, leader of VVVS.
The Vedanta University Bill was likely to be put to vote in the Orissa legislative assembly on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Opposition, especially the Congress legislators, vehemently opposed the Bill, which was introduced in the House yesterday, on the floor of the assembly.
They questioned the rationale of the state government in handing over a huge chunk of land to an organisation which has no prior experience in setting up an educational institution. They also criticized the government for handling over the Jagannath Temple land to the Vedanta group at throw away prices.
Vedanta University, a multi-disciplinary university with an intake of more than one lakh students was to be set up on 6,000 acres of land on the Puri-Konark marine.