Odisha seeks time to decide on temporary & permanent locations for IIM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, Oct 28:

The Odisha government has sought 15 to 20 days’ time to communicate to the Union Human Resources Development department the probable locations for the temporary and permanent campuses of the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the state, secretary Employment and Technical Education &Training Chandrasekhar Kumar said in New Delhi today.

IIMTalking to the media after attending the meeting of secretaries of Employment and Technical Education &Training department of six states where proposed IIMs are to be set up, Kumar said “We will let the Union Human Resources Development department know about this after identifying the locations for the proposed IIM as well as the temporary campus within 15 days”.

Kumar said preparedness on conducting the Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs, scheduled in November thsi year as well as the admission process in February next year were also discussed at the meeting.

Reliable sources said the state government is likely to propose Bhubaneswar for the temporary campus of the premier institute in the state.

Since one of the criteria laid down by the Union HRD ministry says the proposed site of the IIM should have a functional airport in close proximity, Bhubaneswar stands a fair chance, said sources.

Moreover, Bhubaneswar fulfills other criterion of the Union HRD ministry like availability of 200 acres of encumbrance free land to be provided by the state government free of cost for the setting up of the institute as well as good roads and rail connectivity, sources said.

Since the IIT-Bhubaneswar will be shifting from its temporary campus in Bhubaneswar city to its new campus at Argul from the 2015-2016 academic year, the state government may suggest that the present temporary campus of the IIT be used as the temporary campus of the proposed IIM, until such time that the Union HRD ministry zeroes in on any one of the sites suggested by the state government as the location of its permanent campus, sources said.

It may be mentioned here that following the approval of the Centre for the setting up of IIM in Odisha, several organizations, local representatives, regional political leaders and think-tanks of 10 districts—Khordha, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Koraput, Puri, Ganjam, Bolangir, Baleswar and Angul—had urged the state government to set up the institute in their respective districts.

It’s politics which is delaying the tentative site selection (location) for the premier institute, said a knowledgeable source.

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