Shillong, Nov 29: Shillong MP, Vincent H. Pala has dashed a letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi seeking his intervention into the paucity of fund for newly established National Institutes of Technology (NITs) across the country including in Meghalaya.

In a letter to Modi, the Congress MP from Shillong said that as per the direction of the Ministry of HRD, 10 NITs were to be opened in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Uttaranchal, Goa, Delhi and Puducherry.

Pala said, out of these 10 NITs proposed to be established, only 7 are functioning from temporary campuses as the construction of permanent campuses has not been completed.

He said that the Centre had initially sanctioned Rs 250 crore for each NIT, most of which has been utilised in the initial construction stages and an approximate cost of constructing and operating each NIT is Rs 1000 crore.

“Unless the Centre releases the remaining fund, the construction of these NIT campuses will not be completed,” Pala said in the letter to PM.

The MP also said that students on temporary NIT campuses in Meghalaya and Sikkim have been airing their grievances time and again in terms of accessibility, inadequate facilities, lack of proper accommodation, and remoteness of location among others.

Stating that the NIT in Meghalaya under his constituency is functioning from a temporary campus at Laitumkhrah, Pala said that the construction of permanent campus of the NIT at Saitsohpen in Sohra has stopped since November 2017 due to paucity of fund.

To ensure that the education of thousands of students enrolled in these NITs is not compromised, Pala sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in ensuring the release of adequate funds to these NITs.