Charanjit Channi, Harjot Singh Bains spar over Ropar technical university project

Former CM Charanjit Singh Channi has slammed the state government for “wasting crores of rupees” by shelving a flagship technical university project in Ropar, prompting Education Minister Harjot Bains to accuse the previous Congress regime of planning it without clear vision.

The Rs 500-crore Guru Gobind Singh Technical University project in Ropar’s Chamkaur Sahib was mooted during the Congress regime when Channi was the Technical Education Minister.

According to him, Rs 150 crore had already been spent before the Congress term ended, but the project had since been abandoned.

“The current government has shelved it without any justification, wasting crores of public money and dashing hopes of thousands of the youth,” Channi said during his recent visit to the area.

Bains dismissed the allegation, claiming the Congress government “failed to plan the project responsibly”.

“The university was constructed in a low-lying area with no vision or proper site planning. This has created significant issues. We have reached out to various institutions for the take over the facility, but none have shown interest so far,” Bains said.

He added that talks with some Central government institutes were on progress to find a viable use of the unfinished building.

Spread across over 70 acres, the campus was envisioned to be a state-of-the-art facility and a centre of excellence under a skill development scheme of the Centre. It was expected to operate in partnership with a major industrial player.

Earlier, a Ropar court had ordered a stay on acquiring 42 acres of additional land for the project. The land acquisition, estimated to cost Rs 19.76 crore, was to be funded by IKG Punjab Technical University (PTU).