Thaindian News

By K.S. Jayaraman
Bangalore, Oct 13 (IANS) Sections of the faculty are angry with the Hyderabad university for giving away vacant land in the campus to public and private organisations. The varsity says the charges are baseless.

The issue has vitiated the academic atmosphere in the varsity, University of Hyderabad Teachers Association secretary Purendra Prasad told IANS.

“We strongly oppose all moves to give away land originally granted to the university,” said social science professor Sudhakar Reddy. “For a growing university, land is the future asset.”

When it was established in 1974, the government of Andhra Pradesh allotted 2,324 acres of land to the varsity in the “green belt” area of Hyderabad.

“The university has alienated more than a third of its land, used up another third, and the remaining has to be preserved to protect the environment,” Prasad said. “Where is the land for future expansion?”

A signature campaign, “Save University of Hyderabad”, spearheaded by Reddy, has collected 600 signatures in a week not only from the university but from sympathisers at other Indian varsities and from abroad.

A petition to be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Oct 19, during his proposed visit to Hyderabad, demands a halt to land deals and a thorough review of allotment and cancellation of unjustified deals.

But Seyed Hasnain, the varsity’s vice-chancellor since 2006, said the campaign was “based on deliberate disinformation” by Left leaning teachers “with zero or hardly any academic pursuit”.

He said nearly 780 acres of the university land was allocated to various institutions by the Andhra Pradesh government even prior to 2006.

“I wonder why these self-styled guardians of the university land did not protest until 2006,” Hasnain said.

Prasad retorted that prior to 2005, land was allotted mainly for public interest at the behest of the state government, which compensated by returning 450 acres and providing other benefits like improved public transport or power supply on the campus. “That is not the case now,” he said.

Reddy said the faculty was not aware about the land deals then because they were small and infrequent. “We woke up only when land deals, including with private parties, started taking place on a large-scale.”

The Teachers Association has alleged that in just five years, the varsity’s administration attempted to give away more than 1,000 acres of land.

Hasnain said that from 2006 till date only 488.28 acres were allotted “through government orders”, that too after the unanimous approval by the university’s Executive Council.