Sindri/Hazaribag: A Software Technology Park of India (STPI) in Sindri was inaugurated by chief minister Hemant Soren online from Ranchi on the occasion of his government completing one year in office. Built at a cost of Rs 18.67 crore, this is the third STPI in Jharkhand, the other two being in Ranchi and in Jamshedpur.
Surprisingly, the officials at BIT, Sindri – which provided the three acres of land for setting up the park – had no idea about the inauguration. When asked, BIT Sindri director D K Singh said he wasn’t informed about the inauguration or how to go about the functioning of STPI.
Located beside the BIT Sindri campus, the STPI is a joint venture of the Union ministry of information technology (IT) and the Jharkhand government and it aims to encourage and promote the export of software from India. Its satellite links would help not only the BIT students but also those pursuing a diploma in engineering in other colleges. The B.Tech students can get training in software development and data analysis and the STPI is also expected to create jobs, especially in multinational companies, for them.
Meanwhile, the Dhanbad administration inaugurated 72 developmental projects worth Rs 45.92 crore at a function organised in Randhir Verma stadium to mark the one year anniversary celebrations of the government. The administration laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 16.17 crore, which includes a multi-purpose cultural complex of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation. In addition, welfare schemes and pensions amounting to Rs 204.90 crore were distributed among 48,985 beneficiaries at the function.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Dhanbad MLA Raj Sinha — who, like his party colleagues, boycotted the anniversary event in Ranchi — said, “The JMM-led government is like a rudderless ship which has failed to fulfill the promises made in its election manifesto.”
In Hazaribag, state health and disaster management minister Banna Gupta presided over the official function where he launched the new collectorate building. Gupta said, “Our government will work in a progressive manner and despite all odds, we will have a positive approach when it comes to ushering in development in Jharkhand.” He added that despite the shortage of doctors in several hospitals, the government has managed to combat the virus effectively so far. MLAs like Amba Prasad (from Barkagaon), Uma Shankar Akela (from Barhi) and Amit Yadav (from Barkatha) participated in the event while BJP MP Jayant Sinha and Hazaribag MLA Manish Jaiswal and Mandu MLA Jai Prakash Bhai Patel gave it a miss.