BELAGAVI: The long-drawn struggle by the state government to get 176 acres of forest land on which the state’s biggest varsity — Rani Chennamma University (RCU) — is located has come to a dead end.
After running the university on this campus for 25 years, the authorities have decided to hunt for a new space for the varsity. This is because the Union Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change, is against giving this vast land at Bhootaramanahatti, 20km from Belagavi city, to RCU. Ministry officials not only objected to the university on this land but also sought stringent action against the previous ministry officials who allowed RCU to function on this land.
To bolster higher education in areas bordering Karnataka-Maharashtra, the state government, headed by then Chief Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, decided to set up a campus of Karnatak University Dharwad (KUD) in Belagavi in 1982. When Dr Rame Gowda was Vice-Chancellor of KUD, the university bought 176-acre of land near Belagavi, paying for it as per the market value, according to official sources. Until 1994, the university authorities were taking classes for various PG courses in different educational institutions in Belagavi. Since 1994, the campus was moved to Bhootaramanahatti where hardly any infrastructure was available. In 2010, the campus was upgraded into an independent university which was named RCU.
Speaking to TNIE about the university’s decision to find a new campus, RCU Vice-Chancellor Ramachandragouda said, “A tussle between the state and the Union government over the 176 acres has been on for years now. Letters have been written by several university authorities and government officers to the Centre, but in vain. Incidentally, I got some letters written by the Union Forest Department to the university which questioned the allotment of land to RCU. In some letters, the senior officials of the Forest Department not only objected to allotment of land to the RCU but also sought action against Forest Department officials who allowed RCU to run.’’
The VC said the university authorities were not being allowed to take up the smallest of works on the campus. “The situation on campus is so miserable that we are not even allowed to erect an arch at the entrance of RCU by the Forest Department. Even repair works like mending leaking roofs are not allowed by the forest authorities,’’ the VC rued.
He said he has already held a discussion with Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli and decided to look for an alternative land.All colleges in the districts of Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapura are affiliated to RCU. The university has, however, failed to establish a conducive atmosphere for students owing to its unending tussle for possession of the land. So far, only three structures are available on this mammoth campus — the administrative building, guest house and a hostel. Students and staff are made to travel 20-km every day from Belagavi due to lack of all the needed infrastructure on campus.
Sad state of RCU
Centre-state tussle hampers higher education in North-Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Belagavi which fall in RCU jurisdiction
Students are unwilling to join RCU due to lack of infrastructure on campus
Lack of facilities forces staff and students to shuttle between Belagavi and Bhootaramahatti