NEW DELHI: People complained of having no transport facility to travel to the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Combating Climate Change (MGICCC), which is situated in Bakhtawarpur road, Bakoli Village of Outer North Delhi. The institute which was created to address climate change is now fighting for its own survival as the community centre and hostel are in a deteriorating condition.
The then Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Pranab Mukherjee and Markandey Singh, the then L-G of Delhi inaugurated the exhibition hall and community centre on July 9th, 1991. An official said that in the initial days, they used to create awareness about sustainable use of energy such as solar cooker, bio-gas plants, etc.
Another official said that the institute is now only a structure as it offers no professional courses and the labs are devoid of both the necessary equipment and faculty to run it. According to Ritesh Kumar Rana (40), a local resident, when this institute was inaugurated by then-Prime Minister PV Narshima Rao in 1992, the locals had high expectations from it. However, now it seems that the institute failed to meet expectations.
The institute was inaugurated by the name of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Integrated Rural Energy Development (MGIRED). At that time, the institute was registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, as a joint venture of the Planning Commission (Government of India) in collaboration with Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD), with a view to adopt a professional approach for result oriented planning and programme implementation to develop trained manpower in Integrated Rural Energy Planning Programme.
After 20 years, it was renamed MGICCC on January 30, 2009. As per the audit report, the government sanctioned around Rs 7 crore for the institute in 2019-20, of which Rs 5 crore was used topay the staff.
An official said that though the government-sanctioned enough fund, it did not improve the condition of the institute. He added, “More than four Prime Ministers visited the institute in last thirty years, but there has been no change yet.”
Paras Tyagi, Co-founder Centre for Youth Culture Law & Environment (CYCLE) said, “All farmlands near the area have turned into illegal farmhouses and unauthorised constructions. It shows the connivance of officials who daily overlook the illegalities.”
‘NOT ENOUGH FUND TO IMPROVE CONDITION’
As per the audit report, the government sanctioned around Rs 7 crore for the institute in 2019-20, of which `5 crore was used to pay the staff. Enough fund was sanctioned, but it did not improve it’s condition