Announcement of IIM at Bodh Gaya ends uncertainty State education minister Brishen Patels announcement on Wednesday that an IIM will come up in Gaya has ended the seven-month-long uncertainty and brought cheers to Gayaites. Ever since the declaration made by finance minister Arun Jaitley in July 2014, in his budget speech regarding the establishment of IIM in Bihar, it was a will it be or not situation and the October 28, 2014, meet in Delhi came as a disappointment to Gayaites. At the October 28 meet, Union HRD secretary Satya Narain Mohanty virtually turned down the Bihar government proposal to have IIM at Gaya and asked the state government officials to arrange for a 200 acre plot in the vicinity of the state capital for the establishment of the prestigious institute. Welcoming the announcement made by the education minister that IIM will be located at Gaya, the IIM Struggle Committee patron, Sanjay Sahay, and convener Vijay Kumar Mithu said on account of the easy availability of land, rail and air connectivity, proximity to Bodh Gaya and infrastructural advantages, Gaya is eminently suited to host the prestigious institute. Besides, a conventional university in MU, a Central University, a medical college, an engineering college, Officers Training Academy (OTA) and the under-construction Administrative Training Institute, Gaya, will now also have an IIM. Directorate of distance education, MU, in collaboration with the OTA has also introduced a course in defence management exclusively for Army personnel and it is held on the OTA premises. According to experts, as compared to Central University, the proposed IIM will have fewer teething problems, as, unlike the Central University which started functioning from a somewhat small rented building lacking in basic infrastructure, the IIM will operate from the sprawling MU campus. Expressing concern at the earlier refusal of IIM Kolkata to play mentor to Gaya IIM and alleged reluctance of the proposed mentor IIM Indore to go the whole hog and start operations from academic session 2015 beginning July, RTI activist and IIM crusader Brajnandan Pathak said now it is for the Union government to establish Gaya IIM on a priority basis. He made adequate fund allocation and monitor the speedy execution of the project. Regretting the slow pace of development in Central Universy located in Panchanpur area in Gaya district and non-availability of a regular VC in the CU, Pathak said IIM should not face the same road blocks as being experienced by the Central University.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:44:01 +0000
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