Violence-ridden J&K gets an IIM and it will be operational this year itself

The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Jammu as part of Prime Minister’s development package for the state that has witnessed protracted violence ever since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July. The IIM will be operationalised from the current academic year and will function in a transit/ temporary campus at the Old Government College of Engineering & Technology, said a government press release. [caption id=“attachment_3049440” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image[/caption] For the initial four years until 2020, the project will cost Rs 61.90 crore in the temporary campus. A detailed project report for setting up a permanent campus is being prepared. “Steps would also be taken up for setting up campus at Jammu and an out-campus in Kashmir region. The detailed project report for the permanent campuses is under preparation and thereafter the process for setting up of the campuses would start,” an official statement said after the Cabinet meeting. This year, the institute will be able to admit 54 students for the post graduate diploma programme (PGDP) in management. This will progressively go up to a cumulative student strength of 120 in the fourth year, the release said. The Cabinet also approved formation of an IIM Jammu Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. IIM Jammu will be run and managed by the society with a board of governors (BOGs) to be constituted by the central government which will administer the institute and would be responsible for establishment and operationalisation of the institute. “This is a part of Prime Minister’s development package for Jammu and Kashmir. The institute, coupled with opening of IIT at Jammu, modernisation of NIT Srinagar and opening of two new AIIMS institutions, one each in Kashmir region and Jammu region, would go a long way in meeting the requirement of high quality living and education in the state,” the statement said. At present, there are 19 IIMs. Out of these, 13 are located at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, Shillong, Ranchi, Raipur, Rohtak, Kashipur, Trichy, Udaipur. Another six IIMs which have been started in 2015 are located at Amritsar, Sirmaur, Nagpur, Bodhgaya, Sambalpur and Vishakhapatnam.