Questions Raised Over Setting Up a New University at IIIT Basar

Adilabad: Several politicians and student leaders have urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to reconsider his announcement that a new university would be established in Basar IIIT.

The Basar IIIT itself is a university, called Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, they pointed out.

At a recent public meeting in Adilabad, Revanth Reddy asked regional MLAs to come to jointly recommend a place for setting up a university in the erstwhile Adilabad district. The CM himself proposed Indravelli.

Then, at a public meeting in Nirmal, Revanth Reddy announced that a university would be set up in IIIT Basar. He asked the MLAs to extend their cooperation for the same without getting disappointed over not getting a university in their respective assembly constituencies. Development, he said, would suffer if there was a delay in selecting a place for the university.

With this, many have begun questioning the feasibility of setting up a new university on Basar IIIT campus, instead of setting up such a facility at a different place in the Adilabad region.

Notably, students have been agitating, demanding that the state government set up a university in the region spanning the former Adilabad district.

It is felt, in some corners, that the state government is inclined to set up a university on the IIIT Basar campus due to the availability of land there. ITDA officials had marked 300 acres of land near Utnoor headquarters for setting up a Central Tribal University, but later this was shifted to Mulugu.

Baddam Purushotham Reddy of ‘University Sadhana JAC’ said, “There already is the Telangana University at Dichpally in Nizamabad district, close to Nirmal and IIIT Basar in Nirmal district. The CM must reconsider his proposal for setting up a university in IIIT Basar.”

Student leaders say it would be good if the university is set up at Utnoor, which is well connected with Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal districts. This would be of help to the tribal students and students of other marginalised communities in both the districts, they say.

Adilabad MLA Payal Shankar said the people of the region have been dreaming for a university for Adilabad district. “It would be good if a university is set up in the Adilabad district, which would boost the educational needs and development of Adilabad district. The state government must rethink its plan for setting up a university in Basar IIIT. I shall take up the issue with the CM.”