JD(S) SEES A ‘CONSPIRACY’ IN AMU OFF-CAMPUS SHIFTING

Secretary General of Janata Dal (S) K. Krishnankutty has alleged a conspiracy in not allotting government owned land at Panakkad in Malappuram for Aligarh Muslim University off-campus. In a statement he alleged, “The Communist Party of India (Marxist) fears that if the campus is set up at Malappuram it will help the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Hence the campus was being shifted to Chelamala in Perinthalmanna.” He said that in two meetings of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) State committee, CPI (M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had expressed this fear. But, most of the LDF constituents wanted this campus to be set up in a backward area like Panakkad, he claimed. “The government owns 257 acres of land at Panakkad. But in Perinthalmanna, land has to be acquired from private owners. The process will lead to litigation and this will delay the campus,” the statement said. The government has said that the land at Panakkad was allotted to Infrastructures Kerala Limited (Inkel). “However, it was learned that only 30 acres from the 257 acres were given to Inkel for setting up a self-finance college campus,” he said. The Central government had allotted Rs.25 crore for the campus in the last Budget, he said.