Kollam: Indian Institute of Infrastructure and Construction Academy constructed spending Rs 100 crore here has not yet started functioning. The building sits on 9.5 acres of land in Chavara where Kerala Premo pipe factory was situated.
The main multi-storied building of 1.5 lakh square feet houses 38 classrooms, ten office rooms, a director’s room, and a canteen.
Apart from this, there is a 35,000-square feet hostel having 54 rooms to accommodate 108 students, four guest rooms, and a canteen.
There is also a recreational area for students within the compound. “During the commencement of works in 2015, the unions jointly decided to give wholehearted support to the management to facilitate faster completion of the building even settling various bonus issues that popped up. The authorities delaying to start the functioning is deceiving this country and the people, or they should lease it out,” Subhash Kalavara, academy’s workers' union (INTUC) president, told DC.
The facility is under the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE).
Initially proposed in 2008 at Chathannoor in Kollam under the name ‘Kerala Construction Academy’, it was shifted to Chavara.
There were around 700 workers of which 200 locally recruited for the construction. It was earlier announced that the institute would have a third party as an operator, and the building will be given to them on a lease.
