The senate meeting of Ranchi University on Friday witnessed stormy scenes as members accused the varsity authorities of not taking steps to resolve land woes of four colleges and accused the varsity as well as the state government of ignoring higher education.

Vice-chancellor (VC) Ramesh Kumar Pandey presided over the meeting, which BJP MLAs Navin Kumar Jaisawal (Hatia), Gangotri Kujur (Mandar) and Ramkumar Pahan (Khijri), who are members of the senate, also attended.

Senate members alleged that Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College and SS Memorial College are on private land and are fighting court battles for years. They said that neither the university administration nor the government took steps to resolve the problems.

Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College, located in the Kokar locality, is on private land where Kamla Ganguly allowed the use of her premises to run the college. Later on, she filed a vacation suit in court which the varsity administration challenged. At one point of time, the landowner also submitted before the court in writing that she is willing to sell off the land to the college provided the government pays her as per the revenue circle rate approved by the government.

On this, the VC said that the university has moved the proposal before the government. “Ranchi University can mobilise the cost from its internal resource to purchase that land. But an administrative approval from the HRD department is required,” VC Pandey told the members.

The issue of SS Memorial College located on Kanke Road, around 500m from the chief minister’s residence, was also raised. The college is on around 78 decimal of private land.

The college was set up in 1972 when the college administration entered into a sale agreement with the landowner and also made a token payment. But due to the urban ceiling, the sale deed could not be executed. The agreement clearly mentions that it cannot be revoked under any condition. Even as the college became a constituent of the varsity, nobody in the university administration or the state government took interest to execute the sale agreement.

In 2012-13, onwer sold the land to a businessman. Students’ outfits held a demonstration. The district administration suspended mutation of land. The landowner challenged the decision in court.

“It is a matter of concern that in the last four decades the issue could not be resolved,” said P.K. Singh, varsity senate member and teacher at SS Memorial College. “The government can acquire land for road, bridges and buildings but it has no interest to acquire land for the college.”

JN College at Dhurwa is on the land of Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC). The government has not taken any step to secure either ownership or long-term lease to facilitate infrastructure development of the college the senate members alleged.

The issue of Katras House, which used to be a hostel of JN College, was raised. The owner sold off the land to a businessman who built a mall. Varsity officials clarified that the university lost the case in court and was even penalised hence nothing can be done.

The senate members raised several other demands. For example, Yajnavalkya Shukla demanded the varsity recall its right to appoint employees of third and fourth grade in the university.

“When LK Bhagat was VC of RU, he had amended rule and handed over right of appointment to the state,” Shukla said. “I also demanded that RU should not hand over building construction-related works to the government. On both issues, committees have been formed. Pending promotions of teachers and revision of syllabi are also problem areas. I demanded semester-based examination be stopped as it puts unnecessary stress on students and they tend to be selective in their study. An annual examination system should be introduced.”