The Indian Railways on Thursday
said it has no plans to shift century-old IRIMEE from Jamalpur in Munger district to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and any such assertions are "incorrect and misleading".
The statement comes after senior Bihar minister Sanjay Kumar Jha urged Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to rescind the "outrageous order" of shifting the institution.
Jha, a close confidante of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had said the "intriguing" move to shift the institution out of Jamalpur has hurt the emotions of the state's people.
Kumar, who served as railway minister in the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had written to Goyal on May 1, urging him to immediately revoke the decision.
With the issue having the potential to give ammunition to the opposition ahead of the Bihar polls that is due at the end of this year, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi dialled Goyal on Wednesday evening.
Goyal promised him to issue a clarification on the issue.
In a statement, the railways said it has planned to enlarge the activities of the Indian Railways Institute for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE) to also impart programs in transportation technology and management.
Several additional educational programmes starting with one-year diploma courses at Jamalpur are planned to be introduced for which curriculum development and design is underway, the statement released by the Hajipur-headquartered East Central Railway (ECR) zone said.
"Indian Railways is very proud of the history and legacy of IRIMEE and there is no question of it being transferred from its present location," it added.
In fact, all efforts are to further strengthen it and enlarge its role at the existing location, it said.
Founded in 1888, IRIMEE has produced several illustrious railwaymen, including former Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
