Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated on Thursday that if Pulwama opposes the establishment of a new National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus, the government would consider reallocating the project to another district.
The announcement was made during the first press conference of 2025, held in Srinagar.
“We can collectively identify non-productive lands and shift the proposed NIT to a suitable location,” Omar said, emphasising the need for sustainable development.
The Chief Minister revealed that other districts had expressed their willingness to host the project.
“There are other districts ready to welcome this project with open arms. Even an MLA from another party approached me, requesting that the institute be shifted to their area,” he added.
Omar pointed the importance of collaboration across political and regional lines to achieve balanced development while addressing the aspirations of different districts.
Earlier, PDP Youth Leader and Pulwama MLA Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra welcomed the creation of the new NIT but raised concerns over acquiring prime agricultural land for the project.
"It makes no sense to acquire prime agricultural land for NIT,” he stated, accusing authorities of engaging in a land grab in the Union Territory.
Similarly, Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, criticised the land acquisition process. She alleged that the authorities were using development as a pretext for land grabbing in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a post on X, Iltija wrote, “Pray tell, what’s the need to seize 5000 kanals of prime agricultural land in Pulwama to establish an NIT? If education was such a priority, why did they introduce lopsided reservations in the first place?”
The J&K government has approved approximately 5000 kanals of land in Pulwama for the construction of the new NIT campus.
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