IIT Goa, NIT Sikkim to be shifted if land not allocated

Irked by non-allocation of land for permanent campus of the IIT in Goa and NIT in Sikkim, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has decided that it will not approve any proposal for opening of a new higher education institution in future unless the land is allocated in advance.

The HRD Ministry under Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is also contemplating putting Goa and Sikkim governments on notice on the issue, asking them to allocate land for permanent campuses of the technical institutes within a month or two. The ministry plans to shift the institutes if the land is not allocated.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa, which was set up in 2016, is still functioning a temporary campus in the State.

The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Sikkim, which started functioning from August 2010, is yet to have its permanent campus. The NIT Sikkim was one among the ten NITs sanctioned by the Union government under the 11th five-year-plan in 2009.

“We have verbally conveyed to the two State governments to allocate land for the permanent campus of the technical institutes. Otherwise we will take a decision to shift them to some other location in the country,” a Ministry official said.