In the latest move, cabinet sanctions two universities for Rae Bareli.
Concerned over the dwindling political fortunes of the Congress in the Nehru-Gandhi family’s pocket boroughs of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the UPA government has been showering bounties on them to continue foothold in these VVIP constituencies. The union cabinet on Thursday cleared two central universities, for Rae Bareli , the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The first is a national university for women and the other a national aviation university.
Over the past two years, the central government has been liberally sanctioning projects for these two Lok Sabha constituencies in UP ranging from a rail coach factory to technical institutes of highest learning such as the Central Institute of Management, Rajiv Gandhi Petroleum Institute, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research, National Institute of Fashion Technology and lately an AIIMS-type super-specialty hospital. The alarm bells rang in 10 Janpath last year when the Congress managed to win just two assembly seats in Amethi and drew blank in Rae Bareli.
On Thursday, the union cabinet approved setting up of The Indira Gandhi National University for Women, which was earlier vetoed by the Planning Commission. The Commission had questioned the need for an exclusive women’s university in a remote town that may not have enough girl students.
The other project approved by the cabinet was setting up of ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University’. The government will table two separate Bills in the next session of Parliament for setting up these universities. While the university for women involves an expenditure of Rs 500 crore during the 12th Plan, Rs 202 crore was sanctioned for the aviation university in the first phase during the plan.
The aviation university will be set up on 26.35 acres of the land available with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA), a society set up as an autonomous body under the ministry of civil aviation.
Explaining the need to have such a university, an official press note said it would fulfill the aviation industry’s need for a skilled and competent workforce.
Earlier, the railway ministry had initiated projects like laying of the foundation of railway coach manufacturing complex and starting construction of Rae Bareli-Akbarganj-Faizabad new line (116km), Unchahar-Amethi-Sultanpur-Kadipur new line (134km), doubling of the Utaratia-Rae Bareli (66km) and Rae Bareli-Amethi (60km). Also setting up a ‘Rail Neer’ plant at nearby Amethi, the constituency of Rahul Gandhi was also announced.
Unlike the previous BSP government under Mayawati which had stalled the implementation of various projects, the current Samajwadi Party (SP) government has been accommodating central government by facilitating land allotments for these projects. Mayawati had even cancelled the allotment of 189 hectares of gram sabha land for the setting up of a rail coach factory.
The SP government recently provided land for the much-delayed hotel institute project. The central government is now negotiating to get the allotment of land for the paper mills project in Amethi and for the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Rae Bareli. Besides all these projects, minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi has also chipped in to set up a specialized Spices Park in Rae Bareli. Further, the union health is also negotiating to acquire land for the AIIMS like institute. Last year the cabinet had approved Rs 648-crore for widening the Rai Bareli -Jaunpur highway.
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