Punjab gets an IISER, an IIM and a NIPH

AN IIM soon in Mohali

Manmohan Singh lays stone for IISER; MoU signed
between Punjab govt and Public Health Foundation of
India for NIPH in SAS Nagar

Varinder Bhatia

Chandigargh, September 27: September 27 will go down
as a red letter day in the history of SAS Nagar. Prime
Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today not only laid the
foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research (IISER) at NIPER, but also
promised the new district a first-of-its-kind National
Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and an Indian
Institute of Management (IIM).

While the groundwork for NIPH was done with the PM
presiding over the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding between the Punjab government and Public
Health Foundation of India, Union HRD Minister Arjun
Singh promised an IIM soon.

The action-packed evening in Mohali started with the
PM laying the foundation stone of IISER soon after his
arrival around 6 pm.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Singh said: �I am
delighted to lay the foundation stone of a new temple
of learning in Punjab. The Department of Atomic Energy
is setting up a similar facility at Bhubaneswar. It is
now the turn of Punjab to claim its rightful place in
the evolving knowledge economy of India and to become
a first ranking state in science education.�

Earlier, Sudeep Banerjee, Secretary, Higher Education,
HRD Ministry, welcomed the PM and briefed the audience
about IISER. �It will be the third one after Kolkata
and Pune, which have already started functioning this
year and are attracting good response both in terms of
faculty and students,� he said.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal used the opportunity to demand
an Indian Institute of Management for the tricity.
Responding at once, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh not
only promised an IIM in SAS Nagar, but also said it
would be done shortly.

Thanking Arjun Singh for granting another premier
institute to SAS Nagar, CM Capt Amarinder Singh
underlined the need to improve the education system in
the country.

�Much needs to be done at the school level. The
education at school level should be world standard.
Our government has brought computer literacy to the
level of Class X and above,� he said.

On the occasion, representatives of Public Health
Foundation of India (PHFI) and Punjab government
signed an MoU for the first of the five NIPHs to be
set up in SAS Nagar. The institute would train 1,000
healthcare professionals annually.

Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Union
Minister Ashwani Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal were also present on the
occasion