Farm dept. questions UAS decision not to give up land

By Alladi Jayasri

BANGALORE, SEPT. 21. The State Agriculture Department on Thursday issued notice to the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), asking why it should not annul the latter's decision not to ratify the transfer of 100 acres of land on the Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra campus to the Information Technology Department for setting up a biotechnology park.

Last week, the Board of Regents of the UAS unanimously resolved not to spare any land for the purpose. The decision has sparked off a battle of missives between the UAS and the departments of Agriculture and IT.

The battle has spilled onto the campus, with students, faculty and UAS employees rallying around the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. A.M. Krishnappa, and declaring support for the board's decision .

The first salvo, as it were, came when a group of students forcibly ``evicted'' a bus load of labourers brought in by ECC group on September 15, to clear a vast tract of land adjacent to the Judges' Colony, to make arrangements for a foundation laying ceremony on Thursday. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, was to have attended the function.

Sources told The Hindu that even though the decision of the Board of Regents had been conveyed to the two departments soon after its meeting on September 14, the IT Department went ahead and cleared the area, and on September 17, felled several eucalyptus trees which were part of the germplasm developed by the UAS. Several hundred sandal saplings too were uprooted, they said.

Matters came to a head when on Wednesday, officials from the IT Department came to the campus with plans to fence the land which had been cleared, with police protection. The associations of students, teachers and the UAS employees, and the labour union on GKVK campus have protested against what they term ``an attempt at squatting'' by the IT Department and the vandalism perpetrated on the campus where many prestigious programmes are being carried out by the academics.

VC's order: The Vice-Chancellor, in response to these unexpected and ``unseemly' developments, has called an ``emergent meeting'' of the Board of Regents on September 30. He has made it clear that until then, incursions of this nature will be allowed to recur.

There is widespread consternation in academic circles over the turn of events. Four former UAS Vice-Chancellors -- Dr. G.K. Veeresh, Dr. Dwarkinath, Dr. K. Krishnamurthy, and Dr. Devaraju -- are likely to seek an appointment with the Chief Minister, and exhort him to intervene and respond in a manner that will reassure the academia that they will not be ridden roughshod over.

The Board of Regents is still in a quandary over how to react to the notice issued by the Agriculture Department. Sources said the issue would figure prominently on the agenda of the September 30 meeting.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 'A case of mistaken identity'
Next     : City Ham operator in New York rescue work