Summary
A JU official said as the university is encountering financial constraints, they could not proceed with any plan for their New Town campus.
The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation(Hidco) has sought to know from Jadavpur University what it intends to do with the five-acre land that the state government had allotted it in late 2018.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allotted the plot in Action Area II of New Town to the university in 2018 for an education hub.
The land was formally handed over to the university in January 2021.
Since the university has not yet spelt out its plan on what it intends to do with the land, a communication has been sent to the university, a Hidco official said.
A JU official said as the university is encountering financial constraints, they could not proceed with any plan for their New Town campus.
“We have plans to develop the land as the fourth campus of the university following the main campus in Jadavpur, the second campus in Salt Lake and the one being developed inside the erstwhile National Instruments Limited (NIL), also in Jadavpur. There were plans to set up laboratories and a convention centre. But, given our funds crunch we could not go ahead with the plans,” said the official.
A senior HIdco official said that they had sent the letter to Jadavpur University’s authorities as part of a standard process to enquire about when they want to start construction on the five-acre plot.
According to the official, anybody who is allotted land in New Town must start construction ideally within one year from the day of land handover and the leeway could be extended to a period of two years.
According to Hidco rules, the construction should be completed within five years but this clause, too, is generally extended based on requests.
Another senior official said that they were scheduled to have a meeting with the Jadavpur University officials next week where they would like to know what they intended to do with the land.
“The land was allotted to the university in 2021 but till date they have not started any construction. Even raising a boundary wall is considered as starting of construction by us,” said the Hidco official.
The chief minister gave ten acres of land to Presidency University in Action Area I of New Town in 2012. The second campus of the College Street institution was inaugurated in 2019.
St Xavier’s University was set up in 2017 in Action Area III of New Town on land allocated by the government.
Amitabha Dutta, the officiating vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University told The Telegraph: “We held a meeting with our officials on working out a development plan that the university would share with Hidco. We need to hold one more meeting before giving shape to the plan.”
“The pandemic-induced shutdown of the campus was partly responsible for the delay. Then the composition of a committee that was constituted to come up with the development plan kept changing. We are looking forward to developing something that will generate revenue,” Datta said.
Last updated on 21 Jul 2023
