Post political wrangling, CUHP finally finds ground

Lalit Mohan 

Delayed for over a decade, the Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) will finally have its own campus at Dehra and Dharamsala. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar laid its foundation stone at both venues on Thursday.

CUHP is a prestigious higher education institute that would involve an investment of more than Rs 1,000 crores,

Though the foundation stone was laid, the prestigious project is still mired in controversy. While the BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur tried to gain political mileage out of the project, the Congress termed the foundation stone laying a pre-poll gimmick. 

Anurag claimed that 70 per cent campus of CUHP would come up at Dehra, while some Congress and BJP leaders from Dharamsala differ and said it was up to the university administration to decide. 

Now, 300 acre land has been transferred in the name of university at Dehra and 50 acre at Jadrangal in Dharamsala Assembly constituency. The forest clearance for about 500 acre forestland earmarked for the university in Jadrangal is still awaited. 

CUHP was founded for Himachal in 2009 under the policy of UPA-II government to establish a Central university in all states that did not had such an institute. Since its inception, the university has been caught in a political imbroglio. 

The BJP factions and Congress leaders had been sparring over the location of CUHP. During the stint of previous BJP government led by former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, it was decided that the CUHP campus would be located at two places. A site at Indrunag was selected for the location of campus at Dharamsala and near Pong Dam lake in Dehra. Both were forestlands. 

The Congress government after coming to power decided to shift the entire campus of CUHP to Dharamsala. However, the site at Indrunag was cancelled by the Union HRD Ministry on the plea that it was an active sliding zone. The BJP leaders led by Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur continued their lobbying for the campus in Dehra. 

The Congress government decided to provide more than 400 acre land in Jadrangal for CUHP campus. However, the land could not be transferred in the name of CUHP, as it was a forestland and permission for its conversion for other purpose was to come from the Union Ministry for Forest and Environment. 

As soon as the present BJP government took over, the land at Dehra was transferred in the name of CUHP. The Cabinet has also given nod to transfer the piece of land at Jadrangal in the name of Union HRD Ministry. 

Medical, Engg colleges dropped 

Major projects planned initially in the university have been shelved. CUHP has dropped the agenda for setting up a medical college and an engineering college. As per the vision document of the CUHP, it had proposed to set up a medical college and an engineering college. As per the initial proposal, it was planned that while the humanities and basic sciences programmes would come up at Dharamsala, medical and engineering colleges would come up at Dehra. 

CUHP VC Kuldeep Agnihotri admitted that he had written to the Union HRD ministry that initially, the university had no intention to start medical and engineering college. He said in the initial vision document, the university had proposed to start about 130 courses. 

“However, now the ministry has asked us to submit a specified number of courses that can be started in the initial phase. Since Himachal Pradesh already had six medical colleges that were in various stages of development, it was decided that it was not necessary to start another medical college at this stage. The state also has enough engineering colleges in government and private sector, so in the initial phase the CUHP would concentrate on courses such as basic sciences, humanities and other professional courses,” he said. 

Forest rights yet to be settled 

About 70 families that live on the forestland in Kand village, 20 km from Dharamsala, for the past more than 38 years, are likely to lose their houses due to the CUHP campus at Jadrangal. The land on which the said families are settled was being acquired for CUHP at Jadrangal area in Dharamsala Assembly constituency. The families are likely to become landless in case the state government does not given alternative land to them for settlement. 

Sunil Kumar, a resident of Kand village, who is likely to lose his house, while talking to The Tribune, said his family was allotted the village common land that was later classified as forestland in revenue papers in 1980. “Our family had been residing on the land since then. Initially, we had a kuchha house, which was later converted into a pucca house with our hard-earned money. Now, we are being told to vacate the land as the CUHP campus has to come on it. To add to it, the government is not offering any compensation as well as the land on which we were located was a forestland,” he said. 

Gala Ram, another resident, said they would not have anywhere to go in case their land was allotted to the CUHP and they were not given any alternative land or compensation. Our children will come on road,” he said. 

Akshay Jasrotia, an activist taking up the cause of affected villagers, while talking to The Tribune, said residents of Kand and other villagers, who fall in the area being acquired for CUHP, were facing problems due to the non-implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, in the state. Initially, the revenue officials made a mistake by not entering the names of people who were allotted common land in Kand village in records. Later, when the land was classified as a forestland, people became encroachers on their own land. However, still if the state government had implemented the Forest Rights Act, 2006, in the state, people living on common lands classified as forests would have got rights over it. Under the Forest Rights Act the communities settled and using the forestland were entitled to get compensation in case the land was transferred for some other purpose, he said. 

Varsity’s current status 

Currently, CUHP has about 1,200 students in different schools. The campus is scattered at three places — Shahkot, Dehra and Dharamsala. Different schools include Business and Management Studies; Earth and Environmental Sciences; Education; Fine Arts and Art Education; Humanities and Languages; Journalism and Mass Communication and New Media; Life Sciences; Mathematics; Computers and Information Sciences; Physical and Material Sciences; Social Sciences and Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management. 

MBA — most sought-after PG course

Set up in 2009, during the BJP regime in Himachal Pradesh, the university offered 21 post-graduate courses, four undergraduate courses, four diplomas and two certificate courses. The most sought-after PG courses include MBA, having 90 seats, followed by Masters in Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management, having 30 seats. 

The other sought-after courses were PG in Basic Sciences including Masters in Zoology, Botany, Chemistry and Mathematics, having 30 seats each. Applied Sciences courses include Masters in Environmental Sciences, Masters in Computational Biology and Informatics, having 30 seats each. The School of Languages offers PG course in English, Sanskrit and Hindi, having 30 seats each. Not many applicants show interest, but the seats are normally filled. 

The PG courses in Fine Arts and Art Education remain one of the least sought-after courses. 

The university is offering four undergraduate courses including Bachelors in Physics, Bachelors in Sanskrit, Bachelors in Journalism and Bachelors in Finance and Marketing. 

Last year, the university started interesting part-time PG diploma courses including J&K Studies, Ambedkar Studies, Tribal Studies and Deen Dyal Studies. These courses have 40 seats each. Two certificate courses on Gujjar History and Culture and Gojri Language are also offered. The university organises placement drives for students of MBA. 

Due to the lack of a permanent campus, the university struggles to offer accommodation to outstation students as there are no hostels. Students are advised to make personal arrangements. The university has started courses in basic sciences in satellite centre Dehra as well. 

‘BJP deliberately delayed the project’ 

"BJP leaders from Hamirpur got the project delayed from the Union HRD Ministry. Congress government initially offered land at Indrunag and at Jadrangal for the complete campus. When the CUHP was announced by the Union Minister for Finance in UPA-II government in 2007, it was made clear that the university campus will come up in Dharamsala. However, after that the BJP government, led by PK Dhumal, floated the two-campus theory. The government should clarify if it wants to bring up the campus at Dharamsala or Dehra. The stone was laid despite the fact that the entire land has not been transferred in the name of the university." Sudhir Sharma, Former minister and AICC secretary

Problems encountered so far

The CUHP came into existence in 2009. Since then, it has been functioning from its temporary campus at Shahpur and Dharamsala. Due to the non-availability of a permanent campus, the university was facing difficulty in retaining the senior faculty. Students were without hostel facilities. Due to shortage of space, classes for many courses were held in shifts.  After a period of 10 years, since its establishment, now the government has laid the foundation stone of CUHP. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javedkar laid the foundation stone at Dehra and Dharamsala. However, this inordinate delay in the transfer of land in the name of university has already taken its toll. 

‘Congress govt stalled previous proposal’ 

"The government led by PK Dhumal proposed two campuses at Dharamsala and Dehra. Since ample space was not available at Dharamsala, it was decided that 70 per cent campus would come up at Dehra. The government also transferred 300 acre forest and non-forest land at Dehra in the name of CUHP. After the Congress came to power in 2012, it stalled the proposal. For five years, the land transferred in the name of CUHP at Dehra was not demarcated. Congress in fact tried to bring the entire campus at Dharamsala. However, the proposal could not materialise. After the present BJP government came to power, the land at Dehra was immediately transferred in the name of CUHP." Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur

‘Construction will start soon’

"Not having a permanent campus has definitely affected the working of the university. However, now that the land has been transferred in the name of the institute, the construction of a permanent campus will start soon. We already have ample funds. In the temporary campus, basic bottleneck was inadequate space for setting up permanent laboratories of various science and applied sciences. Despite all handicaps, the university faculty has done its best to maintain high standards of academics and research. Many faculty members have bagged awards at national and international level. The academic council of the university will take a final decision on what departments have to be started where (D’sala or Dehra). However, for the time being, as proposed by the government, two campuses of CUHP will come up at Dharamsala and Dehra." Kuldeep Agnihotri, CUHP VC 

Timeline 

• Union Minister for Finance in UPA-II government announces CUHP for Himachal at Dharamsala in 2007 
• CUHP established in Himachal by a Central Act in 2009 
• BJP government in the state led by PK Dhumal proposes dual campus for CUHP at Dharamsala and Dehra 
• Forest clearances delay project 
• Congress government voted to power in state in 2012, proposes to bring up entire campus of CUHP at Dharamsala in Indrunag 
• Land proposed in Indrunag rejected by a committee of Union HRD Ministry in 2014 
• Congress government proposes 400 acre forestland at Jadrangal 
• Forest clearance once again delays project 
• BJP government voted to power in December 2017 
• 50 acre land at Jadrangal and 300 acre at Dehra transferred in the name of CUHP 
• Foundation stone laid by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javedkar at Dehra and Dharamsala on February 21