Keenly awaited Central projects at a standstill

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 14

As the Central Government funded mega projects such as establishment of railway line between Patti (Amrtisar) and Makhu (Ferozepur), the work of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Software Technology Park of India Center have come to a standstill.

The tussle between the leaders of the Congress and the the BJP over taking political credit on these projects was said to one of the top reasons.

All these projects are keenly awaited and expected to boost the economy of the region and create an employment opportunities in the border belt.

Till now, only boundary walls were constructed, that too, at snail’s pace. The possession of the 60-acre at Manawala village, for the 15th IIM, was handed over to the IIM Society on June 18, 2016.

Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said the entire project was held up for acquiring half acre from a farmer, to lay a new road to connect the IIM to the Amritsar-Bathinda highway.

He said there was a need to appoint a regular director to sort out different works of the IIM.

Similarly, another high profile proposed 25.47 km-long-track, between Patti-Makhu rail link, was hampered, as the Capt Amarinder Singh-led- government cited non-availability of funds for land acquisition to lay railway line.

Aujla said, the Chief Minister assured him that the funds for the same would be allocated in the next year’s budget.

The rail route is economically beneficial for the states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Parsad, had laid foundation stone of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centre here but the project has not seen any progress on the ground till date.

The Rajya Sabha MP, Shwait Malik said, the Union government sanctioned these projects and made available liquidity. “It is now the turn of the state government to acquire land for the same”.