As the Telangana government mulls shifting the University of Hyderabad (UoH) from its present location to make way for a 2000-acre ecological park including Kancha Ganchabowli, University officials expressed confidence that neither state Ministers nor the Union Ministry of Education would allow such a proposal to be cleared.
Amid nationwide opposition to its project of developing and selling 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli, sources in the Telangana government had earlier told TNM that a few Ministers have suggested instead developing an “eco-park” in the same location.
Petitioners challenging the auction of the 400-acre land in court have also suggested declaring it a protected area or a national park. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao recently promised to build the state’s largest eco-park in the Kancha Gachibowli land if his party returns to power in the next election.
However, as part of the proposal being considered by the Telangana government, government sources told TNM that the UoH campus would have to be shifted to Future City. Future City is planned by the Revanth Reddy government as an urban extension of Hyderabad, on a 30,000-acre tract of land between the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar highways. The government is considering allotting UoH 100 acres for a new campus, the source had said, with a Rs 1,000 crore investment.
However, UoH officials noted that the students and faculty of UoH are expected to vehemently oppose any move to shift the university away from its present location on CR Rao Road, Gachibowli. An official from the University administration told TNM they are waiting for an intimation from the Chief Minister’s Office in this regard. While the conflict over the land has been primarily centred on its ecological significance, the issue is further complicated by UoH's lack of legal rights over the campus land.
The UoH official shared on the condition of anonymity that any move to shift the University would involve looping in the UoH Executive Council and the Union Education Ministry. The Executive Council, the principal executive body of the varsity, is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and includes the Deans of various schools, senior faculty members, nominees from alumni, and a special invitee.
Another University official remarked that it would be highly irregular of the Congress government or any subsequent government to shift the University to Future City or anywhere else. “Even among the Central Universities, UoH has the rare distinction of existing owing to a Constitutional amendment brought in during former PM Indira Gandhi’s rule,” he noted, referring to the Constitution (Thirty-second Amendment) Act, 1973, that inserted Article 371E for establishing a Central University in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
“Both the Telangana and the Union government see value in the University’s achievements and wouldn’t want it inconvenienced in any way. The Union Education Ministry too would likely oppose any such move if it came to pass,” he said.
“Further, two of the ministers in the Telangana government – Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu – are UoH alumni. So we aren’t concerned despite the [absence of] land rights. For any alumni, it would be a matter of pride to protect the university’s land and geography despite legal issues,” he concluded.
During the peak of the Telangana agitation in the 1970s, hundreds of students participated in the statehood movement, demanding the implementation of the 1956 Gentlemen’s Agreement of Andhra Pradesh. The agreement provided safeguards to prevent discrimination against Telangana by the government of Andhra Pradesh.
In response to the protests, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced a Six-Point Formula of 1973 as a compromise. One of the six points included establishing a Central University in Hyderabad. Article 371E (Establishment of Central University in Andhra Pradesh) then came into existence through the 32nd Constitutional Amendment.
The Revanth Reddy government had planned to sell 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli village, overlapping the University of Hyderabad campus, to IT companies. As the government began to clear the land, student protests erupted on campus. The Supreme Court has criticised the state government for its hasty attempt to take over the land.