IIM issue: Joshi seeks Jaitley’s intervention
Monday, 08/06/2015
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AMRITSAR: Amid fears that the union government-proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) may be shifted out of the Holy City, Punjab local bodies minister Anil Joshi on Sunday met union finance minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi and sought his intervention on the issue.
Jaitley had announced an IIM for Amritsar in his last year’s budget. Pointing out the failure of the Punjab government in finding a suitable piece of land for the ambitious project, Joshi sought intervention by Jaitley and requested him to ask the state government to immediately find suitable land of around 60-70 acres in and around Amritsar for the project.
During his meeting in New Delhi, Joshi told Jaitley that there was a feeling among the people in the city that state government might shift the project to some other city.
Joshi told Jaitley the people of Amritsar would not tolerate the shifting of the project and would go to any extent for getting the IIM in Amritsar.
Joshi in a letter to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had also sought his urgent intervention into the matter.
IIM officials were unhappy with the site selected by the district administration at Awaan village near Ajnala. The administration had chosen a 60-acre government land near Ajnala in the district.
CONGRESS JOINS ISSUE
Meanwhile, president of the District Congress Committee (Amritsar-rural) Gurjeet Singh Aujla on Sunday joined activists of Amritsar Vikaas Manch, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), during a march taken out at Ram Bagh to press the Punjab government to provide land for setting up the proposed IIM in Amritsar. Aujla said they would leave no stone unturned to press the state government and the Centre to set up the proposed IIM in Amritsar.
