2,600 PAPs displaced for edu hub land rehabilitated at Mihan

Nagpur: Maharashtra Airport Development Agency (MADC), which is the developer of Mihan-SEZ, has rehabilitated 2,600 project-affected persons (PAPs) who were displaced following land acquisition for educational purposes.
Speaking on the sidelines of IIM-N groundbreaking ceremony at Dahegaon in Mihan, MADC vice-chairman Suresh Kakani said there were two schemes under which the rehabilitation was accomplished. “Of the PAPs, 1,800 opted for one-time settlement of Rs5 lakh, while the rest preferred training and subsequent job placement in nearby companies,” he said.

After BJP came to power, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis both have ensured top institutes started their centres in Nagpur. Premier institutes like Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), All India Institute of Medical Sciences beside IIM have been allotted land on Wardha Road forming an educational hub in the last five years.

Kakani said 39 persons have been placed following training by their employer Future Supply Chains (FSC) at Mihan. He said that MADC had extended full support to all education institutes coming up in the vicinity. “We have asked institutes to deploy a technical team so that the process is expedited,” he said.

IIM-N board chairman CP Gurnani said MADC has been responsive in offering help. “When we asked MADC to shift a HT line passing through the campus land, Kakani told me they were already working on it,” he said.

Kakani said a request has been made with the MSEDCL and the HT line would be shifted in three months.

Officials of Ahluwalia Contracts, which has been given the work to build the IIM-N campus, said they have not disturbed the natural streams and greenery on the open land while planning the works.

Talking about IIM-N’s transition, Gurnani said the first phase is expected to be complete by June 2020. Asked the reason for delay of four years in starting the works, the chairman said there was no delay as proper procedure had to be followed. “The governments (state and the Centre) have been very supportive. Till initial years, we were just ancillary unit of IIM-A. We didn’t have proper faculty then. A big tree takes time to grow. Now, we have stellar placement record. Centre of excellence has also started,” he said.