Post News Network
Berhampur, Nov 17: A high-ranking Central team Tuesday visited Palur hills and Laudi village in Ganjam district in order to identify a suitable spot for the setting up of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.
It was decided to set up the Central institute in the district after the state government recommended its establishment near Berhampur and identified over 200 acres of land for the project under Kanishi tehsil. The district administration decided to opt for Kanishi after it was unable to find a suitable patch of land in Berhampur city. The land identified will be provided to the Centre free of cost while funds for the construction of the institute will be borne by the Centre.
The team was led by management director Reena Sanyal of Union ministry of human resources and comprised IISER-Bhopal director Binod Kumar Singh, IIT-Bhubaneswar director RV Rajkumar, central public works department chief engineer Ramesh Mishra and principal secretary of the state technical education department LN Gupta.
The team also visited Gandhi Institute near Palur from where the temporary campus of IISER will function till a permanent campus is built. The first academic session of IISER will begin next year.
It is expected that the Central team will approve Palur and Laudi as the final site as they are located close to the National Highway and are also within half-an-hour’s drive from Berhampur railway station. The permanent campus of IISER is likely to be built within the next five years.
The team is also likely to approve Gandhi Institute as the temporary campus for IISER as the institution has all the infrastructure required for a premier institute like IISER.
The team will submit its fact-finding report to the Union ministry of human resources. Revenue divisional commissioner (South) Sanjay Kumar Singh, Ganjam collector (in-charge) Sitanshu Rout, Berhampur sub-collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan and other revenue officials accompanied the team during their visit to the sites.
