THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prolonged bureaucratic apathy on the part of the state government has cast a shadow over Thiruvananthapuram’s bid to secure a permanent regional campus of the Kasaragod-headquartered Central University of Kerala (CUK).
The proposal to allot land for the university’s permanent ‘capital centre’ was first mooted in 2014, when the CUK centre began functioning from rented premises in Thiruvananthapuram.
At the time, the state cabinet had assured that suitable land would be identified and allocated in Thiruvananthapuram district for establishing a permanent centre.
“Although government land at Kudappanakunnu was identified for the centre in 2014, the proposal did not materialise. Subsequently, three locations - Vithura, Azhoor and Vattappara - were scouted by the government between 2017 and 2023, but the plan remained on paper,” a source said.
The project was revived in 2024 after the Revenue department agreed to provide 12.95 hectares of land at Andoorkonam village in Nedumangad, following an initiative by Minister G R Anil, the local MLA. After a series of high-level meetings, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reportedly assured CUK authorities in August 2024 that the land at Andoorkonam would be handed over to the university.
Following clearance from the Finance Department, the file relating to the land transfer was forwarded to the Higher Education Department in January 2025 for its recommendations. “The file remained pending with the Higher Education Department for over a year and reached the Chief Minister’s Office only in January this year,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, top government sources said the matter would be taken up at the upcoming cabinet meeting. Even though minister Anil is firmly backing the proposal, the Higher education department has reportedly expressed a few reservations over the project.
At present, only one course under the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme is being offered at CUK’s Thiruvananthapuram centre due to space constraints. According to CUK Vice-Chancellor Siddu P Algur, several additional courses could be introduced if a permanent centre with adequate infrastructure is established in the capital.
“We have plans to launch several state-of-the-art courses at the proposed capital centre that would benefit students in the region,” Algur said. Meanwhile, university authorities are expected to meet the Chief Minister shortly in a last-ditch effort to salvage the project.