The unaided self-financing arts and science colleges under Mahatma Gandhi University could no longer pledge their college property as collateral for bank loan.
The university has turned down a request by the Kerala Arts and Science Unaided College Management Association seeking permission for pledging their property on which the college is located for taking bank loans. The decision was taken on the basis of varsity statutes that state that the land owned by the college should be without any encumbrance. The rules had made it clear that the land should be available exclusively for the purpose of the college.
The Association had submitted a memorandum after the university gave a direction restraining an unaided college in Ernakulam from pledging its property. The varsity had also asked the college management to submit a certificate after clearing its liabilities at the earliest.
In its memorandum, the Association had pointed out the contributions being made by self-financing colleges in the State’s higher educational sector.
The Association requested the varsity to permit the colleges to take loans by pledging their property for maintaining the facilities being offered to the students.
The provision that the land owned by the college should be free of any encumbrance and used exclusively for the purposes of the college figured as clause 25 (2) in chapter 23 of the Mahatma Gandhi University statutes, 1997.
The statutes stipulate that the minimum extent of land required for an arts and science college is six hectares for first grade colleges and four hectares for junior colleges in a corporation or municipal area.
The minimum land required for first grade and junior colleges in panchayat areas is eight hectares and six hectares respectively. For women’s colleges, the minimum land required in corporation and municipal areas is four hectares each while the requirement in panchayat areas is six hectares.
Four hectares of minimum land should be available for colleges offering language and literature programmes.
