IIIT Amethi campus shifted to Allahabad

Amethi (UP), Aug 3: After a run of 11 years, curtains came down on IIIT Amethi campus when its 148 students were shifted to the Allahabad campus yesterday.

This is the third major project to be shut down since the Modi government came to power at the Centre after the proposed Mega Food Park and Hindustan Paper Mill met similar fate in the constituency of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

Amethi is considered as bastion of Congress and has been represented by the Gandhi family.

The students of Rajiv Gandhi IIIT have been shifted to the Allahabad campus and the Amethi campus will be transferred to the Ambedkar University, Lucknow, as per government decision, Director IIIT-Allahabad G C Nandi said today.

A decision to this effect was taken in May when the then Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani had announced shutting down of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Amethi and opening of satellite institute of Babaseheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow, on that campus.

Though the students will be able to continue their studies in Allahabad, 75 employees of the IIIT are on warpath as they allege that no arrangement has been made for them.

They have also threatened to launch an agitation from August 12 if no arrangement is made for their absorption. Rahul had raised the cancellation of Shaktiman Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur in Amethi in Lok Sabha and the party had said that scrapping the project was part of "political vendetta" by the Modi government.

Jagdishpur Paper Mill Ltd (JPML) was to be set up in two phases in the constituency but last December the Centre decided to shift it to Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

PTI