Ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls later this year, the Centre announced the setting up of a National Memorial to honour Bharat Ratna Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan’s birthplace and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the State. These were among the many decisions taken by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

“Considering the contribution of such a great person (JP), one should not evaluate this decision from a political gain or loss point of view,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in response to query whether the decision had been taken keeping the Bihar polls in mind. The political significance of this decision can be judged by the fact that the government decided to field the Home Minister to brief the media about the Cabinet decisions. Under the proposal, a National Memorial will be set up at Lala Ka Tola, Sitab, Diara, district Chhapra (Saran) in Bihar, the birthplace of JP, which will also house a virtual museum and an institute to undertake study and research on democracy, enhancing the role of panchayats in nation-building and Gandhian thought. It will also have a centre for khadi and constructive work along with Khadi Gaurav Samvardhan Kendra for making national flags by women clusters.

Singh said a detailed project report is being prepared and the State Government will be requested to allocate land for the proposed complex, adding that there will be no problem of funding.

Interestingly, the proposal was approved a day before the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency.

Other decisions The Cabinet also gave its approval for setting up six IIMs, revising expenditure on the dedicated freight corridor, renewing long-term agreements with Japanese and South Korean steel mills for supply of high-grade Indian iron ore and signing an agreement with Japan for co-operation on patents, among others.

Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the new IIMs will come up in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab).

The IIMs will begin functioning from the assigned temporary campuses and later shift to their permanent sites. The new IIMs will commence their first academic session from 2015-16 with an intake of 140 students. The government expects the annual intake to increase and touch 560 students each year by the end of seven years.

Prasad also said that renewal of long-term contracts was being done to continue the supply of high-grade Indian iron ore from NMDC mines during the three-year period from April 2015 to March 2018. The quantities covered under the agreement will be in the range of 3.8-5.5 million tonnes.

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