Parveen Arora
Karnal, February 11
The project of the state’s first NCC Academy in Araipura village in Gharaunda block is in a limbo even as the deadline of three years has lapsed. Lack of budget is said to be the reason behind the delay in the completion of the project.
Revised budget sent for approval
We have sent a revised budget to the Education Department for approval, but we are still waiting for it. Sandeep Goel, Superintending Engineer PWD (B&R)
We are hopeful
We are in touch with the department concerned.We are hopeful the budget will be released soon and the work will be completed at the earliest. Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner
The foundation stone of this project was laid by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in July 2018 and the deadline for the project was February 2020. The project is aimed at providing training to 700 cadets at a time.
The PWD (B&R) authorities said they had sent a revised estimate to the Higher Education Department in August 2021 for approval, but no approval had been accorded so far. Due to the changes in the drawing and the layout plan, the project cost has increased to Rs 86 crore from Rs 56.95 crore estimated earlier.
So far, slabs of the first and the second floor have been completed in the boys’ hostel, and around 90 per cent of the slab work has been completed on the third floor. The structure and brick work has been completed on the ground floor and the first floor of the girls’ hostel. Similarly, the slab work of the mess block, except the hall, has been completed. The administrative block is still pending, said the officials.
Sources also claimed that a meeting was held recently, in which some other options such as transferring the project to another agency was also discussed.“We have sent a revised budget to the Education Department for approval, but still we are waiting for it,” said Sandeep Goel, Superintending Engineer PWD (B&R).
Anish Yadav, DC, said the budget which was allocated earlier was utilised on the building. For the remaining budget, they were in touch with the department concerned. “We are hopeful the budget will be released soon and the work will be completed at the earliest,” said the DC. This academy will be a centre of excellence as the cadets of the state will get training in the camp here like the academies in Gwalior and Nagpur, the DC said.