Teachers, AMU locked in tussle over guesthouse construction

In what appears to be an attempt to avert a major face-off with the Teachers’ Association, the management of Aligarh Muslim University has decided to put on hold a discussion on the construction of a guesthouse on the campus.

The Teachers’ Association, which is at loggerheads with the management over the suspension of its honorary secretary, has accused the management of proposing to hand over 10,000 sq. yards of land on the campus to a private builder from Mumbai.

“Under this proposal, the builder will have complete control over the land for 30 years.”

“The builder will construct a commercial guesthouse and shopping complex and have full power over all the money and profits,” the AMUTA Executive Committee said in a statement.

Denies allegations

The management has denied the allegations, but has decided not to discuss the issue at the meeting of the Executive Council on Friday. “… Agenda No. 7 pertaining to the construction of a guesthouse on a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) basis is hereby withdrawn,” it said in a statement released on Thursday.

Earlier, AMUTA members said they were “opposed to the move to hand over two acres of land each at the Mallapuram (Kerala), Murshidabad (West Bengal) and Kishan Ganj (Bihar) centres to a private Delhi-based trust of Lt. Gen. Zameeruddin Shah and his associates to establish schools.”

The management termed the allegations about the guesthouse construction incorrect.

It said the proposal was put forth because the “university lacks quality guestrooms and it does not have adequate funds either to construct a state-of-the-art guesthouse.”