The State government on Friday handed over the documents of 4.2 acres of land at the Vijayapuram gramapanchayat to the Central government for establishing the regional centre of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC).
According to a statement issued by Jose K. Mani, MP, the centre would be established in Kottayam. It will be the sole regional branch of the institute in south India. The other branches that have been approved by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are at Aizawl (in Mizoram), Vidarbha (in Maharashtra) and Jammu (in Jammu and Kashmir), he said.
The Central government will sanction an amount of Rs.52 crore for the first phase of establishing the centre. The centre would facilitate education with the assistance of the media, imparting training for officials of the Information and Public Relations department of the Central government, conduct lectures and seminars in the field of mass communication, and also collaborate with other universities, and educational institutions for research activities, said Mr. Mani.
