IIT-Jammu may miss deadline of permanent campus by Mar next
Vikas Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, May 12
The authorities of IIT-Jammu are in a fix following directions of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry asking the heads of six new IITs to complete the construction of their new campus within the stipulated time. The permanent campus of IIT-Jammu is to come up at Jagti in Nagrota.
The Union Cabinet had on October 24, 2017, approved a Rs 7,002-crore plan for the construction of permanent campuses for six new IITs — Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwad (Karnataka), Jammu (J&K), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Goa. The deadline was fixed for March 31, 2020.
However, sources said the permanent campus of IIT-Jammu was unlikely to come up by then.
Owing to the slow pace of the project, local students are preferring engineering institutes, including IITs, outside the state.
Harjot Singh from Jammu, said, “I have cracked IIT-JEE main exam with good marks. But I have opted for Delhi Technological University (DTU) because of better infrastructure and future prospects.”
He said the establishment of IIT-Jammu was an added advantage for the students from the state, but looking at the current situation, they could not put their future at stake. The construction of the permanent campus was yet to begin. Even the transit campus was incomplete. It would take a long time to have a full-fledged IIT campus in the state, he added.
Commodore Naresh Kumar (retd), OSD, IIT-Jammu, said tenders for the construction of the main building were likely to be issued in September. “Land has been allotted for the project. The construction has been entrusted to the Central Public Works Department.”
He said after the completion of the tendering process, the construction would start.
On security issues, the OSD said they had already take up the matter with the higher authorities. A special force would be deployed for security on the campus. “For the time being, we have adequate security measures in place on the transit campus”, he added.
