Govt. acquires 93 acres of land for Kerala AMU campus

The acquisition became possible as the land-owners got ready to give the land at the rate of Rs 8750, which the government had fixed. The land-owners informed their willingness in the district level Purchase Committee meeting held yesterday in the Taluk Office in Perinthalmanna.

The Purchase Committee had earlier, on two occasions, held talks with the land-owners but the latter had refused to give off the land for Rs 8250, the value fixed by the government. The new agreement was reached after the officials and local people held unofficial talks with a group of land-owners. The rate of land was also raised to Rs 8750.

The government has to hand over 123 acres of land to the AMU in the first phase. In the first round of talks itself, 22 land-owners had got ready to hand over their lands to the government at the rate of Rs 8250. That land was around 10 acres. About 83 acres of land was handed over to the government yesterday after the talks. So, now the government has to acquire only 30 acres for the first phase.

The government had promised the AMU that it would hand over 123 acres of land in the first phase by October 31, but has not yet transferred the land even though two weeks have passed after the set date. The AMU VC Dr PK Abdul Azeez had expressed his fear that the state might lose the campus if the land was not transferred in the stipulated time.

The AMU authorities had also reportedly sent a letter to the state Principal Secretary warning that the amount set aside for the project could not be used if the state failed to transfer the land within this month.