NU- biggest land-owner, drawing very little from its vast properties
By Vikas Vaidya
Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University seems to be the biggest landowner but little precious has been done to utilise their properties at prime locations within city limits and on the city outskirts. Ironically, the University has miserably failed to protect and get back its own 70.09 acre land adjoining Amravati road campus and appears to be clueless about existence of vast properties situated elsewhere.
Most of the properties are lying either unused or encroached. The issue came for the discussion before Senate when an alert member Ambadas Mohite pointed it out. It was also came to the fore that university owns the land not only in the state but in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and that too at city of Hyderabad.
Raobahadur D Laxminarayan had donated 25.31 acre land with his main bungalow where vaious educational, administrative buildings and hostel buildings are located. Apart from this, there is 11.86 acre land at Kanhan (Mauja Pipri Khasra no. 162 and 190, Tahsil Parshioni) which is also donated by Laxminarayan. He donated all this land on May 3, 1930.
The land at Kanhan was given on rent to Biharilal Khandelwal Trust from July 16, 1973 to July 15, 2003. The lease was extended for next ten years with merely Rs 60,000 annual rent (or a paltry Rs. 5000 per month). The said trust is running its school there in the name of BKC Public School and entire land is under its possession.
University received donation of 7 acre land from Late Dr M B Niyogi on August 9, 1955 which is on Ambajhari road near Subhashnagar square (Mauja Parsodi 5 acre in Khasra no 22/1 and 23/1 and 2 acre in Khasra no 50 and 51). On this land though Academic Staff College and Centre for Sericulture and Biological Paste Management Research is situated, still another 1.5 to 2 acre land is lying unused. Its present market value is mind-boggling.
Dr Kamalabai Korke had donated her bungalow situated at ward no 75, house no 253, Dharampeth Extension, Shivajinagar, admeasuring 9600 Sq.Ft, having a two storey structure, and wished that varsity would put it to fruitful use. At first university had given it on rent to National Centre for Rural Development from May 1, 1985 to September 30, 2009. Later it has vacated it. Now advertisements have been placed inviting applications for its rental use by some institutions.
The casual approach of University administration has made it to suffer a lot. The bungalow at Dhantoli donated by Shrimati Janakibai Thakur is in dispute as the tenant there refused to vacate it and now university is fighting a lengthy and time consuming legal battle. This bungalow in Dhantoli named ‘Sadaparva’ was donated on February 17, 1944 admeasuring 6240 Sq.Ft. University did little to remove the tenant staying there. The civil suits are pending in the court against 6 tenants since decades.
Ambadas Mohite pointed out that university lost much with reference to revenue. At Kanhan university is charging mere Rs 5000 per month on 11.86 acre land. The land of 1.5 to 2 acre is laying vacant near Niyogi Bunglow which can be used for educational purpose. With the fight to get back land of 70.09 acre, university has almost ignored other properties which can be put to better use.
Mohite also suggested that if these properties are sold, a handsome corpus can be generated and same can be used for academic development. As it is the University is unable to handle such a vast estate and hence time has come to take such a rational and logical decision, he opined.
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