When former Finance Minister and present Home Minister P Chidambaram, announced a world-class central university and an IIT for Himachal Pradesh while speaking at a function at Shimla’s Ridge in 2007, excitement among youths in the state was palpable.

Few days later, the then Congress CM Virbhadra Singh also followed it up by disclosing the location of the central university near Dharamshala in Kangra district and the IIT in Mandi.

While the academic session of the IIT has already begun at the Roorkee campus, and the foundation stone for the local campus also laid, the central university is nowhere in sight.

The reason: the site proposed by the Himachal’s BJP government for the university campus is not acceptable to the state Congress leadership and the state remains at a loss.

The proposed university also remains headless with no Vice-Chancellor and administrative staff appointed so far.

Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Professor R C Sobti, an academician and scientist of repute, was offered the post of V-C but he allegedly refused.

Principal Secretary (Higher Education) P C Dhiman said: “The government is keen to see the university functional immediately. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had met HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. We are still not sure when it will happen.”

The Indian Express has learnt that after the visit of the HRD Ministry team, which inspected the 7,800 hectare near Dehra and found it suitable for the university campus, the state Congress objected to the state government’s proposal for locating the university at Dehra.

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