HRD minister to lay foundation stone of NIT on Oct 19.

After a decade-long wait, Uttarakhand’s only National Institute of Technology (NIT) is all set to get its own building. Union human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank will be laying the foundation stone of NIT campus in Sumari village in Pauri district on October 19.

Talking to TOI, Ajay Bisht, officer on special duty (OSD) to HRD minister confirmed that a meeting between NIT director Shyam Lal Soni and the minister took place on Monday. The two discussed at length about the institution’s building, courses and other aspects related to admissions, students and their safety.

“The HRD minister will lay the foundation stone of NIT on October 19 and construction work will start immediately,” Bisht added.

Confirming the meeting, higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that plan is to lay the foundation stone of NIT’s Sumari campus on Saturday but the government is yet to seek permission from the election commission. The state government has acquired 203 acres for the NIT campus in Sumari village in Srinagar town of Pauri district. The government is accessing the rest 109 acres in nearby areas to fulfill the minimum land requirement for the construction of the institution.

NIT-Uttarakhand came in the limelight last year when hundreds of students staged protests demanding that the institute be shifted from its current location along the NH 58 in the town after two BTech students met with accidents while commuting from one campus cluster to another along the highway.

The NIT was set up in Uttarakhand in 2010 and the campus was to be established at Sumari, 15 km from the present location, in Srinagar. The institution authorities claimed that the land decided by the government to build the institute was declared unfit for development and construction after which makeshift arrangements were made on the first floor of the polytechnic to hold classes. Since, the first year of its existence, the students of NIT Uttarakhand are demanding a permanent campus.

“Thousands of students have studied and passed from the institution which awaits its own campus since 10 years. Three CMs took charge in the meantime but no concrete decision on NIT was taken,” said Vikas Bora, a former NIT student.

TOI