HP agri varsity teachers oppose land transfer to Tourism Dept

The Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University Teachers’ Association (HPAUTA) had opposed the transfer of 112 hectare of university land to the Tourism Department. The HPAUTA had also requested Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar and local MLAs to not transfer the land to the department.

The association had argued that the proposed transfer would jeopardise agricultural education and research, ultimately affecting farmers’ interests. The association emphasised that the university land was solely meant for educational and research purposes and not commercial use. Transferring the land would halt critical ongoing research projects, including major projects funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Government of India. The land transfer would cripple the university"s future growth, leaving no land for new colleges/departments or student facilities. The proposed tourism village project could pollute the environment and undermine the academic mission of the agriculture university.

Talking to reporters, Janardhan Singh, secretary of the HPAUTA, when said the Himachal Government did not consider the request of teachers, non-teachers, students and pensioners and transferred the 112 hectors university land to the Tourism Department in 2024, the HPAUTA had no option than to move Himachal High Court, Shimla. Accordingly, a PIL was filed by the association. Considering the association’s logic, the high court gave the stay order. The hearing of the case is underway in the court.

In the meantime, the state government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s stay on the transfer of 112 hectares of land belonging to Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University in Palampur to the Tourism Department. The land was slated for the development of a tourism village project. The filing of the SLP in the Supreme Court, challenging the high court stay on the transfer of 112 hectares of land, raises a number of questions as to why the government was in so much hurry to establish the tourism village in the university campus while so many hectares’ land was lying unused with various line departments of the HP Government.

“The Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University Teachers Association once again requests our Chief Minister to look into the matter and withdraw the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court so that university’s academic, research and extension work cannot be suffered,” said Janardhan Singh.

Himachal Tribune