Teachers protest land transfer, urge Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to withdraw SC plea

Time of India

7 hours ago

KULLU: The teachers' association of Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, has urged Chief Minister
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
to withdraw a Special Leave Petition (SLP) the state govt recently filed in the
Supreme Court
.
This petition challenges the stay order by the Himachal Pradesh High Court on the transfer of 112 hectares of university land to the Tourism Department.
In a letter to the CM, the Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University Teachers' Association (HPAUTA), which has been opposing the land transfer for the proposed tourism village, stated that this project by the state govt would jeopardise agricultural education and research in this premium agricultural university.
According to the Association, the govt should withdraw the SLP so that the university's academic, research, and extension work is not adversely affected.
Professor Janardan Singh, the Secretary of HPAUTA, told TOI that the university land is meant solely for academic and research purposes, not for commercial use. 'The land transfer would not only halt major ongoing research projects, including those funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), but also hinder the university's future expansion as no land would be left for new colleges, departments, or student facilities.
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The proposed tourism village project would also weaken the academic mission of the agricultural university,' said Prof Singh.
He mentioned that the state govt's move to approach the SC also raised several questions about its intent. 'Why is the govt in such a hurry to establish a tourism village within the university campus when several hectares of land under various departments of the Himachal Pradesh govt lie unused? The state govt is unnecessarily putting the future of a premium institute of learning at risk,' added Prof Singh.
Despite protests and stiff opposition from teachers and students, the state govt last year transferred 112 hectares of university land to the Tourism Department for developing its proposed tourism village. Challenging the state govt's land transfer, the HPAUTA approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The HC in August last year put a stay on the land transfer, and challenging the stay order, the state govt filed an SLP in the SC in March this year.
Established in 1978, Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, in Kangra district was renamed Chaudhary Sarvan Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University in 2001. The university was awarded 14th rank among the Indian agriculture universities by the ICAR in 2019. So far, the university released 179 improved varieties of different crops for different regions of the state and is the first in the country to establish an Advanced Centre on Nature Farming.
There are four constituent colleges of the university which impart education to over 2000 students from eight countries and 15 Indian states. If the transfer of the 112 hectares goes through, the university will be left with 277 hectares of land in its Palampur campus, and according to teachers, the university would require more land for expansion in the near future.
'The university land has been squeezed whereas it needs to be expanded and new programmes are required to be started as per the new education policy. There is an urgent need to establish new colleges including the College of Agricultural Engineering, College of Fisheries, College of Agricultural Business Management, College of Environmental Sciences, etc. Instead of providing more land to the university, the state govt is taking away whatever little it has got,' said a university teacher, who didn't want to be named.
The state govt announced in November 2023 to set up a tourism village in Kangra district to promote 'local art and culture and to create employment opportunities for the youth.'