Patna, Oct. 30: The education department and the Magadh University are poised for a face-off over the selection of land for setting up the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the state.
The department has assured the Centre of providing more than 150 acres belonging to Magadh University (MU) in Bodhgaya, 120km south of Patna, for the IIM campus, triggering a protest by a section of the university teachers and officials. They have written a letter to the government objecting to its move.
In response to the Centre’s 15-day deadline for the governments of Bihar and the other states, where IIMs have been proposed, to suggest possible sites for the institutes as well as temporary campuses for the July 2015 session, higher education secretary Satya Narayan Mohanty, during a meeting on Tuesday, mentioned Bodhgaya as the site for the new IIM in the state.
A senior MU official, opposed to the proposal, said: “The mahant (priest) of Gaya had donated the plot where the government wants to set up the IIM campus to MU at the time it was established in 1962. The university only can utilise the land for academic purposes.” He added that MU would carry out its expansion programme for different courses and in such a situation, giving away land to another institution would not be judicious.
Before the Dussehra vacation, a group of students, led by some university officials, staged a protest on the MU campus in Bodhgaya against the setting up of the IIM on the varsity premises.
MU vice-chancellor (VC) Mohammed Ishtiyaque’s stand on the issue is the only succour for the education department. Education minister Brishen Patel said: “MU VC Ishtiyaque has assured us full co-operation in setting up the IIM campus in Bodhgaya, 8km from the airport.”
The VC feels that setting up the IIM campus would put Gaya on the education map of the country. Ishtiyaque told The Telegraph: “I know that a section of teachers and university officials is opposed to the move. But whenever a new programme or new institution comes up, there are some negative elements who resort to such things.”
Leaving nothing to chance, the MU administration has kept an alternative arrangement ready in case the protest turns ugly. The VC said: “The MU has 43 acres adjacent to the golf course land around 1km south of Bodhgaya towards the Gaya-Dobhi road. The government can acquire both the plots to set up the IIM, 4.5km away from the airport.”
A few years ago, the state had acquired 265 acres to develop a golf course but abandoned the plan later.
According to the human resource development (HRD) ministry directive, each state has been asked to allocate 150 to 200 acres free of cost for setting up of IIMs, preferably at a location with air connectivity. The Centre would inspect the site before accepting the state’s choice. Moreover, the HRD ministry wants the states to be ready with their proposals before the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year.
State higher education director S.M. Karim said: “The Centre asked us to provide land at Patna but we expressed inability to do so and offered land in Bodhgaya, which has air connectivity as well.”
Karim added that to help the running of the temporary IIM campus, the MU administration has agreed to provide two floors in its distance education building in Bodhgaya. The two floors have a combined floor area of 10,000sqft, which is feasible for running the transit campus.
Students have welcomed the decision of setting up the IIM campus in Bodhgaya. Chandan Kumar Bhaskar, a student at AN College, said: “It is a welcome move that finally IIM would open in Bihar.”
