Shillong Dec 02: Shillong MP, Vincent H Pala on Monday sought to know funds released and allocated in the last three years by the Centre to 31 National Institutes of Technology (NITs) including those being set in Meghalaya and other states of North East India.
Pala also raised specific queries in Parliament on the status of NIT Meghalaya and specific plans to improve the condition of the institute.
Union human resources minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal in his reply informed that the Ministry of HRD has released and allocated funds during the last three financial years – Rs 70 crore in 2017-18, Rs 48.78 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 46.36 crore in 2019-20.
Pokhriyal said that the Meghalaya government has provided the land at Sohra for the establishment of permanent campus of the institute where construction works have also commenced and in various stages of completion.
“The ministry of human resources development has from time to time releases grants to NIT Meghalaya to meet their expenditure. The ministry has also sanctioned the requisite number of faculty and non faculty positions to the institute for its smooth functioning,†Pokhriyal said.
NIT Meghalaya is at present functioning from its present temporary campus at Laitumkhrah in Shillong and the branches of engineering comprised of under graduate, post graduate and PhD programmes.
Currently, 930 students are enrolled in various branches of study in NIT Meghalaya.
On Pala’s query regarding the amount released and allocated during the last three years for other NITs located in other states of the North East, it was stated that funds released and allocated for NIT Agartala was Rs 109.16 crore in 2017-18, Rs 88.14 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 115 crore in 2019-20.
For NIT Silchar, the funds released and allocated was Rs 120.15 crore in 2017-18, Rs 88.042 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 115 crore in 2019-20.
For NIT Arunachal Pradesh it was released and allocated Rs 30 crore in 2017-18, Rs 34.33 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 36.72 crore in 2019-20.
Similarly, the NIT Manipur got Rs 44 crore in 2017-18, Rs 38.17 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 32.97 crore in 2019-20.
For Mizoram the amount released was Rs 73.16 crore in 2017-18, Rs 20.50 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 36.56 crore in 2019-20.
The NIT Nagaland got Rs 62 crore in 2017-18, Rs 29.43 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 27.71 crore in 2019-20.
The NIT Sikkim also got Rs 19 crore in 2017-18, Rs 38.17 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 71.60 crore in 2019-19.
The NIT Meghalaya was established in 2010 and started functioning from its temporary campus at Laitumkhrah in 2012. Its permanent campus is currently under development at Sohra, about 53 km from Shillong.
The Centre had earlier earmarked a total of Rs 800 crore for the NIT project in Meghalaya.
The NIT Meghalaya is one among the 31 NITs in the country established under the NIT Act 2007 (Amended 2012).
