Land trouble continues to fox the development of own and new buildings for the new six NIPERs with the State Governments yet to allocate the lands required, in four places and thus leading to the lapse of funds.
So far the lands were given only at Guwahati and Gandhinagar where the construction works were awarded to the agencies while the Centre was still in talks with the State Governments to release lands in other four places –Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rae Bareli and Hajipur.
In 2007, Cabinet granted in-principle approval to the setting up of six new NIPERs and commencement of classes with the help of mentor Institutes. In 2011, Cabinet finally approved establishment of six new NIPERs and the classes had already started. The only condition that was put by the Cabinet was that the land for new NIPERs had to be given by the State Governments free of cost.
Following approval of the Steering Committee, the work relating to construction of NIPER Campus at Guwahati and Gandhinagar has since been awarded to PSUs viz Engineering Projects (India) Ltd (EPIL) and Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd (HSCL) respectively. MoUs with EPIL and HSCL have also been signed sometime back for construction of new campuses.
“For NIPERs Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rae Bareli & Hajipur, the matter is being pursued with the respective State Government for early allotment of land for NIPER campus,” sources in the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) said.
“Finance Division has concurred for release of Rs.1.57 crore and Rs.2.22 crore for NIPER, Ahmedabad and NIPER Guwahati respectively. Before commencing construction, HSCL will have to undertake soil and geo-technical investigation, clearances from local authorities, apart from preparing drawings and designs for approval by the competent authority. The time frame for completion of the project would be decided at the time design of the project is approved,” sources said.
“Andhra Pradesh has agreed to allot 50 acres of land for NIPER Hyderabad. Matter is being finalized. Issue of allocation of land has been vigorously pursued with State Government of West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A number of letters have been written at the level of Secretary and also from the Minister (Chemicals and Fertilizers). Secretary also discussed with Chief Secretary of Bihar and West Bangal in this regard,” DoP sources said.
Because of this delay in getting the land, the Department could not utilize the allocated amount for the purpose last financial year. This year, the Department hopes to spend at least some portion of allocation for the purpose.