Amethi: Smriti Irani replaces Rahul’s pet project with varsity

Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani on Thursday announced the closure of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Amethi and opening of a satellite campus of Babaseheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow, on the premises.

Admission to the new university will start from June 1 and classes will commence from August 1. Students of the IIIT will be shifted to Allahabad.

The Amethi campus of IIIT, made operational under UPA –II, was the pet project of Amethi MP and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Irani, who is known as Didi in Amethi, made the announcement at a function organized by Bhaorao Deoras Sewa Nyas organized at Vidya Bharati, Dhammur, Amethi. Later, the minister made the same announcement on the IIIT campus in Amethi.

Addressing the gathering, she said: “After an inquiry, I came to know that all facilities at the IIIT were running on papers… locals of Amethi, Rae Bareli and Sultanpur were not benefiting from it.” She added there was no point in fooling people.

Training guns on the Gandhi family, the minister said: “Even after more than 60 years of Congress rule, people of Amethi got nothing. But in just two years of NDA rule, see what Amethi has got.” Irani also announced free insurance for physically challenged people of Amethi.