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| IIMC: Is it the new ‘regional’ headache for Govt? | | |
SANT KUMAR SHARMA
JAMMU, Oct 18: The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, will have to decide the venue for setting up an Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in the near future and by all available indications, it is not going to be an easy task.
If he decides to set it up in Kashmir, he may have to face the charge of siding with the Valley unfairly. If he takes a decision to the contrary, he may have to face opprobrium in the Valley.
It thus appears that the Information & Broadcasting Minister, Mrs Ambika Soni’s recent announcement to set up an IIMC in J&K can pose problems for the government and open up another pandora’s box. Just as had happened in the case of Central University.
An agitation in Jammu for setting up the CU in the region had forced the government to request the Centre to sanction two universities, instead of one. Rather reluctantly, the Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry headed by Kapil Sibal conceded this demand but scrapped the setting up an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the state.
On Wednesday, a senior I&B Ministry bureaucrat, Ms Neelam Kapoor, visited Media Education Research Centre (MERC) in the University of Kashmir and interacted with the students. As Principal Director General (Media and Communication), Press Information Bureau (PIB), her word carries weight.
According to a press release issued by the university, Ms Kapoor announced that the Central Government plans to set up the IIMC at Srinagar. If indeed she declared that Srinagar is the venue of the proposed IIMC, Ms Kapoor has gone beyond Ms Soni, the minister in charge of I&B.Ms Soni had only announced the Centre’s decision to set up the IIMC in J&K but not its venue.
Incidentally, the National Conference-Congress coalition government had celebrated the sanction of two universities some time ago. Both the NC and the Congress leaders had claimed credit for getting the second university sanctioned.
It was an extraordinary turn of events as nowhere else in the country has the Centre allocated two Central universities for a small state like J&K. But the decision has set up a very bad precedent as both the Central and the State government may realise soon.
This can happen because every time a new institution is to be established in J&K, like the IIMC now, the Centre may have to think of sanctioning it in pairs: one for Jammu and another for Kashmir.
Deciding the venue of the IIMC can lead to another round of tug-of-war between the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu region.
Incidentally, the Media Education Research Centre (MERC) in Srinagar has been teaching Mass Communication & Journalism at post-graduation level for almost three decades now. Headed by Professor Shahid Rasool, the MERC offers M.A. (Mass Communication & Journalism), as also M. Phil and Ph. D. courses.
Besides Mr Rasool, a professor, the MERC faculty comprises two senior assistant professors and six assistant professors. Another staff member, Ms Muslim Jan, is designated Editor.
In contrast, these subjects are not taught at any of the four universities in the Jammu region: the University of Jammu, the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.
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