The Human Resource Development Ministry has warned States that if they fail to allot land for permanent campuses to house Centrally funded premier educational institutes within a stipulated time, those could be shifted to other States.
Currently, IIT-Goa and NIT-Sikkim are operating out of temporary campuses. Both had allotted plots for permanent campuses that ran into ecological hurdles. They are now likely to face a one-month deadline to allot land, according to Ministry officials.
The “zero tolerance policy” that HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank laid down during recent review meetings on such institutes comes after delays in land allotment led to severe cost overruns in the construction of previous IITs, NITs, IIMs and IIITs.
“The financial implications are severe. If the estimate for the construction of an IIT is prepared in 2007…and it only starts construction in 2017, that means the cost estimates are almost 10 years old. Expenditure would be double that of the original estimate,” said a senior Ministry official. Five IITs — in Jammu, Dharwad, Tirupati, Bhilai and Palakkad — are still in the process of constructing permanent campuses.
“In future, no institution will be sanctioned unless land has already been allotted by the State government,” added the official.
