A highly emotive issue in universities

The Nizam Government originally allotted 1,627 acres of land to OU, of which it leased out nearly 250 acres in its 95 years of existence

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao may be determined to use varsities’ land for constructing houses for poor yet fact is several committees and commissions constituted by the respective varsities have time and again pointed out that land could only be used for “academic purposes”.

Land issues are always highly emotive, more so in the Osmania University that has seen several agitations over the years on illegal encroachments or attempts to give land to government and private agencies.

In 1986, a committee of professors was formed to look into the demands of government organisations for alienating the land for official purposes. The committee headed by Prof. Jafar Nizam, then Dean, Faculty of Science, and former Vice-Chancellor of Kakatiya University, out rightly rejected the idea. The report submitted by the committee recommended not to dispense with the varsity lands to any agency.

EC’s stamp of approval

The report was approved by the University Syndicate, now renamed as the Executive Councils, the most powerful administrative body of the university. The report led to construction of a wall around the campus in 1988, which largely helped the varsity to protect its lands from the illegal encroachers. However, some cases are still in courts.

The land issue erupted again during Prof. Malla Reddy’s regime as Vice-Chancellor when attempts were made to alienate the land to some agencies. Student Unions - ABVP, PDSU and SFI launched an agitation under the banner of “Save OU Lands” and after the uproar, the government constituted a one-man commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge, O. Chinnappa Reddy.

Lease agreements

The commission looked into various lease agreements the varsity had with academic institutions and the encroachments and recommended that varsity lands should be used only for academic purpose and that too judiciously.

The Nizam Government originally allotted 1,627 acres of land to Osmania University of which it leased out nearly 250 acres in its 95 years of existence.

About 180 acres were given to educational and research institutions like Andhra Mahila Sabha, CIEFL (now EFLU), National Institute of Nutrition, State Archives, HPS Ramanthapur, Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) among others. Another 66 acres were allotted to government institutions like the HUDA, RTC Hospital and for relocation of settlers to Manikeshwari Nagar.

Round table in OU on Monday

The Osmania University Teachers Association (OUTA) too is opposing the land alienation proposal and is planning to call for a round table meeting on May 25 with people’s representatives, alumni and students. “There is a need to discuss the issue thoroughly,” says OUTA chairman, Gattu Satyanarayana. “The government that has to protect the varsity lands itself wants to take away and that is not a good sign,” he says.

Proposal withdrawn in HCU

Similar attempts were made in the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in recent times but students and employees had successfully stalled it through agitations and court cases. The decision to earmark 200 acres of land to ‘Care Foundation’ to set up an institution for research in 2006 created uproar and after a long agitation, the proposal was withdrawn.

No controversy in Agriculture University

The Agriculture University in Rajendranagar too possesses huge tracts of land but there was never a controversy here as lands were allocated to related research institutions only but never to private parties or individuals.