Governor puts on hold Sanskrit University Syndicate’s plan to hand over six acres to KCA
The Chancellor has further called for all records and minutes of meetings related to the proposed land transfer.
The Chancellor has further called for all records and minutes of meetings related to the proposed land transfer.
The Chancellor has further called for all records and minutes of meetings related to the proposed land transfer.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar has directed the Vice Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Prof K K Geethakumary to “keep in abeyance” all actions related to the transfer of six acres of university land to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) for a stadium and training facilities.
In a letter dated December 22, the Raj Bhavan also sought a report from the Vice-Chancellor on the circumstances under which the university Syndicate decided to hand over the land. The Chancellor has further called for all records and minutes of meetings related to the proposed land transfer.
Arlekar’s intervention follows a petition submitted by the whistleblower group Save University Campaign Committee, which urged the Chancellor to block the transfer of what it described as prime university land to the KCA on a 33-year lease, without any monetary consideration.
The committee’s chairman R S Sasikumar, an education activist, alleged that Syndicate member and CPM Ernakulam district secretariat member K S Arun Kumar, along with KCA joint secretary Bineesh Kodiyeri, were behind what he termed a “lopsided” land deal that was detrimental to the university’s interests.
At the Syndicate meeting held on December 19, Arun Kumar initiated the discussion on the KCA’s proposal to take over six acres of land, Sasikumar said. While the Left-leaning Syndicate members endorsed the proposal, four members nominated by the Chancellor opposed it. The Vice-Chancellor, he added, sided with the Left members.
The six acres earmarked for the KCA form part of the 52 acres allotted to the university by the State government in 1995. “Any transfer of this land would require government approval. The Syndicate cannot unilaterally hand over university land to a private body,” Sasikumar said.
Under Section 8(6) of the Sanskrit University Act, the Chancellor is empowered to set aside any university decision that violates the Act or the Statutes, after giving the authority concerned an opportunity to explain its decision. Sasikumar pointed out that the decision of the Sanskrit University Syndicate stood in contrast to those of the Syndicates of the University of Kerala and the University of Calicut, which rejected government proposals seeking 10 acres for a science park and 40 acres for a stadium, respectively. The University of Kerala had also earlier turned down a request by the Kerala Hockey Association for five acres of land.
He further noted that the KCA was seeking six acres from the Sanskrit University even as it owed around Rs 85 crore in lease arrears to the University of Kerala for the 37-acre international stadium at Kariavattom. The Chancellor’s letter has effectively put the proposed land transfer on hold, Sasikumar said.