Patna, Dec. 27: The Bihar government will play the 'vertical' card before the Centre on the issue of the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the state.
Sources in the state education department said with the Centre still silent on approving Bodhgaya site for the IIM despite requests, the idea of setting it up in a high-rise structure will be floated before them in January.
'In early December, the state government sent a series of letters to the Union human resource development ministry requesting them to re-consider their decision and allow the IIM to be set up at the Magadh University campus in Bodhgaya. The state government is excited as IIM Indore has agreed to mentor the proposed institute in Bihar. The letter had gone from the department as well as from the chief secretary too. However, till now no reply has come from the Centre and we are still waiting. But we hope that the Centre will send a positive response,' education minister Brishen Patel said.
The sources added that the state government had a fresh plan, which was viable. 'The Centre has asked Bihar and other states, which has been given the IIMs, to arrange for 200 acres of land for the institute. As said earlier, it is quite impossible to arrange for so much land in or around Patna. On January 7, Patel will go to Delhi to participate in a meeting in connection with skill development and will be interacting with the officials of the ministry and also the minister. Bihar will further try to convince them but if they are adamant, the state will float the idea of the IIM to be constructed vertically in the form of high-rise structures. If the Centre agrees, the deadlock will end immediately and the state government is positive to find land in or around Patna as vertical blocks do not require so much of land. But, we still are keeping our fingers crossed hoping that the Centre will agree on Bodhgaya. The state hopes that after the January 7 meeting, the Centre will surely respond by January 15 on their stand,' a department official said.
Experts said high-rise is a better idea. 'Going vertical is definitely a good idea. The state government can always construct multi blocks - more than one vertical structure which will cater to needs of the proposed institute. For an institute like the IIM, this can be easily done on a plot of four-five acres. The floors of the blocks can be increased easily. I do not think there can be a problem in that,' builder Nanhe Kumar said.
The sources added that just like the IIM, a majority of states, which have been given the IITs as announced in the budget, are facing land issues. 'We have come to know that Goa, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, who have been allocated with IITs, are also facing land hassle. The Centre has mandated a minimum of 500 acres of land for the IITs but these states are not able to manage it. It has come to our knowledge that in order to deal with this issue, the Centre has asked them to increase the floor area ratio and go vertical,' the official added.
