RUPNAGAR: In a setback to the district, the army plans to shift its proposed centre for Service Selection (North) from Rupnagar to Jalandhar. Planned during the previous SAD-BJP regime, the decision to shift is because of poor rail/road connectivity of Rupnagar, sources said. A plot of 203 acre had been earmarked for the centre at the Birla Farm near the Indian Institute of Technology campus. The army is in possession of the land and senior officers had visited the site to sort out the issue of water disposal.
Since the proposal was made, a Selection Centre has been functioning provisionally from Kapurthala. Other suchcentres are in Bengaluru, Bhopal and Allahabad.
Sources said another factor that went against Rupnagar is that the town has no military units to provide security. Also, there are no medical establishments/military hospitals that are essential to conduct medical tests of candidates. “All these facilities are available in Jalandhar,” a source said.
Former Punjab minister Daljit Singh Cheema termed the proposed shifting to Jalandhar as unfortunate. “Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal made great efforts to bring the Centre to Rupnagar . It will be grave injustice to the historic city, if the centre is shifted,” he said, adding that the state government must take up the matter with the Centre. Assembly speaker Rana KP Singh also expressed his concern over the proposal to shift the centre.