VISHAKHAPATNAM: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will lay the foundation for the Central Tribal University at Mentada in Vizianagaram district on August 25 in the presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Deputy chief minister Peedika Rajanna Dora and local MLAs Botsa Appala Narsaiah and CV Chinappala Naidu, collector S Nagalakhmi and SP Deepika Patil and other senior officials visited the proposed university site on Sunday and discussed the arrangements. Later, education minister Botsa Satyanarayana held a meeting in the collector’s office to review the arrangements.
The Central Tribal University was sanctioned as a part of the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014 to serve the interests of Adivasis of Parvathipuram Manyam, ASR, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.
Eighty per cent of the acquired 561 acres of land, meant for development of the university, belonged to the government. The state government sanctioned Rs 37. 45 crore. The government handed over the land documents after completing the land acquisition on August 6.
The land development picked up pace after the chief minister announced at a public meeting in Kurupam that he would be visiting the site in September to lay the foundation for the university.
Initially the university was proposed in Relli village. After the YSRC government came to power, it shifted the location of the university to Mentada in Saluru constituency.
Land was acquired in Mentada and Dattirajeru mandals of Viziangaram district. District officials said 155.44 acres were acquired from Chinamedapalli village in Mentada mandal and 391.17 acres from Marrivalasa in Dattirajeru mandal. These two parcels of land belong to the government.
Around 67.30 acres belonged to private parties and 42.88 acres has water bodies, agriculture ponds and bushes.
The government issued GO-265 in June this year to announce that the land acquisition had been completed. The government paid a compensation of Rs 10.47 crore to the farmers who owned 67.30 acres. At the behest of the minister Botsa Satyanarayana, a sum of Rs 13.92 crore was given to 279 farmers who possessed D Patta lands. Similarly, a sum of Rs 5.58 crore was given to those who had no documents.
