Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS
If it was not so bitterly ironic, it would have been positively funny. The valley districts do not want the National Institute of Technology, Manipur, NIT, as witnessed in the demonstrations at two different locations when it had seemed the government would acquire land for the project there, and in direct contrast, the hill districts, especially Churachandpur, had campaigned all along that the institute should be located in Churachandpur or else in any other hill district. Yet for reasons it has not explained adequately, the government has chosen to displease both camps by forcing it on the unwilling and depriving the willing. Since it seems determined to push ahead with its plan to have the NIT in the Lamphelpat area amidst protests, should it not at least be obliged to come out with an explanation? Obviously, its reason must be able to allay both sets of concerns, one which sees the loss of their arable land as well as homesteads to the project as untenable and the other which wants the institute to be established away from the valley, so that there is a certain degree of decentralisation of infrastructure in the state. The trend all the while has been for all important institutes to concentrate in the capital region of Imphal (the capital incidentally is multi-ethnic).
Both voices deserve a sympathetic ear. First case first: Amidst the eviction spree of the Okram Ibobi government in the two terms it has been in power, it seems to have become somewhat callous to the fate of people who are uprooted from their homes and businesses. Maybe these evictions were necessary and it is also true that all legitimate landholders were compensated. But there is a lot more to it than just monetary compensation. Those who lose their homes, leave behind memories that distinguish a home from a house. Cost of a house can be estimated but not the cost of a home precisely because of the memories, sometimes extending several generations. Moreover, the compensations paid by the government never take into consideration the losses in businesses of people renting spaces at these evicted sites. Many of these businesses are so location dependent that it is difficult to re-establish them at a different place. Many small businesses, such as stationeries, photostat shops, tea stalls etc, had in fact been ruined in these eviction drives. The moot point is, when the government takes up new projects that require substantial land, it would always be better for the project to be located where land acquisition least involves residential or business localities, and of course agricultural land. Moreover, it is also in Imphal’s own interest, for satellite towns to develop.
On the second question, we see no reason why the vast, non-arable and largely uninhabited hills and foothills, should not be the first choice for such projects. It would indeed be nice to see the NIT come up as a self-contained township just as the IIT campuses are, in the serene environment of a hill district. But that will depend on whether the Central government’s investment in the NIT, Manipur, will be as huge as in the IITs. Again the other caution that we are reminded of is the fate of the Nagaland University. This Central university is located in Lumami in the Zunheboto district, but for all practical purposes, the real campus has, by the pressures of necessity, shifted to Kohima. The waste is obvious, and it would profit nobody if it were to be repeated. Again, let there be no illusion that locating the institution in Imphal would greatly benefit Imphal or if it were to be in Tamenglong, it would benefit Tamenglong. Like the IIT, it is a national institute, and understandably most, if not all, faculty as well as students would be from outside the region, selected as per open all-India competitions. In the inaugural year of the IIT Guwahati, it will be recalled, there was only one student from the entire northeast who could qualify, although happily that student was from Manipur. We also distinctly remember a debate in the 1980s when the IIT Guwahatii was still at the proposal stage, between two faculties of the IIT Delhi, Dinesh Mohan and RC Malhotra (who became the first VC of the new IIT). Dinesh Mohan had argued that since most of the faculty, staff and students would be held by people outside the region (as he quite rightly presumed there would be few in the region meeting the exacting IIT qualification standards) leaving only subsidiary jobs to be filled by locals, there would ultimately be resentments. Thankfully his prediction has not been accurate and there have been no cognizable outcries demanding IIT jobs for locals only, so far. Considering these factors, and after taking measures that the cautions raised are handled, we once again re-iterate that the passionate demand for the NIT to be located in a hill district, be granted.
If it was not so bitterly ironic, it would have been positively funny. The valley districts do not want the National Institute of Technology, Manipur, NIT, as witnessed in the demonstrations at two different locations when it had seemed the government would acquire land for the project there, and in direct contrast, the hill districts, especially Churachandpur, had campaigned all along that the institute should be located in Churachandpur or else in any other hill district. Yet for reasons it has not explained adequately, the government has chosen to displease both camps by forcing it on the unwilling and depriving the willing. Since it seems determined to push ahead with its plan to have the NIT in the Lamphelpat area amidst protests, should it not at least be obliged to come out with an explanation? Obviously, its reason must be able to allay both sets of concerns, one which sees the loss of their arable land as well as homesteads to the project as untenable and the other which wants the institute to be established away from the valley, so that there is a certain degree of decentralisation of infrastructure in the state. The trend all the while has been for all important institutes to concentrate in the capital region of Imphal (the capital incidentally is multi-ethnic).
Both voices deserve a sympathetic ear. First case first: Amidst the eviction spree of the Okram Ibobi government in the two terms it has been in power, it seems to have become somewhat callous to the fate of people who are uprooted from their homes and businesses. Maybe these evictions were necessary and it is also true that all legitimate landholders were compensated. But there is a lot more to it than just monetary compensation. Those who lose their homes, leave behind memories that distinguish a home from a house. Cost of a house can be estimated but not the cost of a home precisely because of the memories, sometimes extending several generations. Moreover, the compensations paid by the government never take into consideration the losses in businesses of people renting spaces at these evicted sites. Many of these businesses are so location dependent that it is difficult to re-establish them at a different place. Many small businesses, such as stationeries, photostat shops, tea stalls etc, had in fact been ruined in these eviction drives. The moot point is, when the government takes up new projects that require substantial land, it would always be better for the project to be located where land acquisition least involves residential or business localities, and of course agricultural land. Moreover, it is also in Imphal’s own interest, for satellite towns to develop.
On the second question, we see no reason why the vast, non-arable and largely uninhabited hills and foothills, should not be the first choice for such projects. It would indeed be nice to see the NIT come up as a self-contained township just as the IIT campuses are, in the serene environment of a hill district. But that will depend on whether the Central government’s investment in the NIT, Manipur, will be as huge as in the IITs. Again the other caution that we are reminded of is the fate of the Nagaland University. This Central university is located in Lumami in the Zunheboto district, but for all practical purposes, the real campus has, by the pressures of necessity, shifted to Kohima. The waste is obvious, and it would profit nobody if it were to be repeated. Again, let there be no illusion that locating the institution in Imphal would greatly benefit Imphal or if it were to be in Tamenglong, it would benefit Tamenglong. Like the IIT, it is a national institute, and understandably most, if not all, faculty as well as students would be from outside the region, selected as per open all-India competitions. In the inaugural year of the IIT Guwahati, it will be recalled, there was only one student from the entire northeast who could qualify, although happily that student was from Manipur. We also distinctly remember a debate in the 1980s when the IIT Guwahatii was still at the proposal stage, between two faculties of the IIT Delhi, Dinesh Mohan and RC Malhotra (who became the first VC of the new IIT). Dinesh Mohan had argued that since most of the faculty, staff and students would be held by people outside the region (as he quite rightly presumed there would be few in the region meeting the exacting IIT qualification standards) leaving only subsidiary jobs to be filled by locals, there would ultimately be resentments. Thankfully his prediction has not been accurate and there have been no cognizable outcries demanding IIT jobs for locals only, so far. Considering these factors, and after taking measures that the cautions raised are handled, we once again re-iterate that the passionate demand for the NIT to be located in a hill district, be granted.
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