City Convention Centre - Its conception, planning and construction

Jarnail Singh
During 1980s and 1990s, Manipur did not have reasonable facilities where regional or national level conferences could be held. When Manipur hosted a meeting of North Eastern Council in 1988, it was with difficulty that the government was able to organise it in a hastily prepared hall on top floor of present State Guest House. In April 1988 when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Imphal and addressed three sessions of Deputy Commissioners of about 80 districts, who had come from different states, it was done in a room of Ministers’ block near SBI bank in North Block of Manipur Secretariat. At that time, Manipur did not have good hotels as it has now. Lack of such facilities prevented the state from holding regional / national level conferences in Manipur. It is in this background that in 2007, the idea to build a facility to hold national and international conferences was conceived, moved forward and fructified in the form of City Convention Centre.
In 2007, Chief Minister Manipur O Ibobi Singh attended a conference of chief ministers chaired by the Prime Minister in Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi. I also attended it as Chief Secretary Manipur. The arrangement for the conference, spacious auditorium, logistical arrangements and ambience of Vigyan Bhawan were excellent. After the conference, CM held a meeting in Manipur Bhawan at New Delhi to discuss progress of projects which had been taken up in Manipur after the visit of the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh in November 2004. During the meeting, CM appreciated arrangements of the previous day’s conference in Vigyan Bhawan and also suggested that Manipur should build a miniature of Vigyan Bhawan in Imphal so that national level conferences could be held at Imphal. This was the beginning of building the City Convention Centre.
After requesting Vigyan Bhawan authorities, the next day CM visited Vigyan Bhawan along with Manipur PWD engineers. I also accompanied him. We visited all auditoriums on all floors and decided on a mid-sized auditorium of about 750- seat capacity which should be built in Imphal. We also noted dimensions of all adjoining facilities, conveniences and arrangements which are required during conferences. In addition to main auditorium, it was also planned that facilities at Imphal should also include a conference hall for about 100 persons, a VIP conference hall and a couple of multipurpose small halls. Manipur PWD engineers then prepared a design based on requirements of different facilities proposed at Imphal and estimated its cost of around Rs 60 crore.
During 2006-07, the state government had started beautification of the Palace Complex area and removal of encroachments as well as acquisition of some private properties from the Palace Complex area. Keeping in view the central location, the government decided to build mini Vigyan Bhawan type facilities in the Palace Complex and name it as the City Convention Centre. It was expected that funds for construction of City Convention Centre would be available from Special Plan Assistance ((SPA) as well as Reconstruction Plan (RP) / Special Central Assistance (SCA) of about Rs 720 crore per annum which Planning Commission had started giving as additional to Manipur from 2004 onwards to fund schemes announced by Prime Ministers Dr Manmohan Singh during his visit to Manipur in November 2004 and other infrastructure projects.
After the decision to construct the City Convention Centre in the Palace Complex, the acquisition of some private properties was expedited. This was a sensitive matter as some persons had built their properties and established their businesses after spending financial resources. CM’s tough approach proved helpful in quick removal of structures from the acquired properties. The City Convention Centre was sanctioned in 2008-09. It was completed and inaugurated by PM Dr Manmohan Singh on 3 rd December 2011. Its total cost of construction and furnishing was about Rs 75 crore which was partly funded by SPA and partly with funds from the Ministry of Urban Development. After construction, the City Convention Centre was handed over to Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD) Department of Manipur government. Since this a big facility, it requires substantial funds for its maintenance and upkeep which could be raised if frequency of its use increases substantially.
Main credit for conceiving the idea and building the City Convention Centre, in spite of tremendous resistance from land owners, goes to the then CM O Ibobi Singh. State PWD engineers did excellent work in designing, tendering and supervising this Centre. Liberal funding by Government of India through SPA and RP/SCA went a long way in completing City Convention Centre and other infrastructure projects such as Manipur Legislative Assembly building, High Court building, Development of Kangla, Roads, DC offices complex buildings, up gradation of RIMS, conversion of Manipur University into a central University etc. in Manipur during 2004-05 to 2013-14.
The writer is former Chief Secretary of Manipur and also served as the Administrator of Manipur University