Central government's project of setting up a Model college for the backward and naxal-hit Gadchiroli in doldrum

Updated on: Monday, August 13, 2012

The ambitious Central government's project of setting up a Model college for the backward and naxal-hit Gadchiroli has been lying in doldrums, with its premises being transferred to a university, leaving the college and its students in a lurch.

As a result, the Rs 2.50 crore sanctioned by the Centre and the Maharashtra government have been lying unused, since the college authorities have failed to find an alternative land to build the college, sources said.

To add to its woes, the building of the Model College was in possession of the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University till the last month, but it was transferred to the newly formed Gondwana University, and the college virtually became landless.

Now it has to pay a rent to the Gondwana University as per the agreement reached between the two varsities (Gondwana and the Nagpur university) recently, sources said.

Incidentally, Model college has been a project of the central government under which it sanctioned setting up of 271 such educational institutions in the country, including two in Maharashtra at Gadchiroli and Buldhana districts.

The aim was to set up areas of educational excellence for the backward, hilly and trouble-torn areas like Gadchiroli which has been a naxal hotbed for last three decades. However, with the setting up of the Gondwana University in Gadchiroli last year, its development took a backseat as its premises was tranasferred to the new university.

In July last year, the Centre released Rs 1.30 crore for the development of the college, and the state also sanctioned its share of Rs 1.20 crore.

But, owing to lack of space and failure to find a new land to build up the college, the funds have been lying in cold.

College authorities said the revenue department was unable to provide 10 acres of land required for setting up the academic premise, while all the other vacant lands in the district belong to forest department, making it difficult to obtain land because of complexities under the provisions of Forest Conservation Act.

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