By IANS,
New Delhi : Mooted eight years ago, the Indian National Defence University (INDU) is finally set to get off the ground with the Haryana government promising land for the institution in the Gurgaon suburb of the national capital.
“The Haryana government has given the green signal for acquiring land at the earliest in village Binola along the National Highway No.8 (in Gurgaon district) for setting up the university,” Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh told reporters here Wednesday.
Haryana Chief Secretary Dharam Vir had addressed a letter in this regard to Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, he added. Action to acquire the land would be initiated after obtaining the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
“Being a prestigious project, the setting up of such a university would make Gurgaon a hub of academic, strategic and professional expertise in defence preparedness,” Singh maintained.
“It would also open myriad avenues for employment opportunities,” he added.
Taking a cue from existing defence universities in the US and China, INDU will be a fully autonomous institution under an act of parliament, Singh said.
It would run courses not only for officers of the armed forces but also of the civil services and paramilitary organisations.
An empowered group of ministers, while reviewing the report of a committee that examined the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan, had also reviewed the entire spectrum of defence and security management and recommended in 2000 the setting up of the INDU.