BJP slams govt plan to acquire Palampur agri varsity land

Vinay Sharma, state spokesperson of the BJP, opposed the Himachal Pradesh government’s decision to set up a tourism village on the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University campus by acquiring 112 hectares of its land.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Sharma demanded that the government immediately withdraw its petition from the Supreme Court challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s stay on the transfer of land to the proposed tourism project.

He categorically stated that university land must not be diverted for purposes other than education. Recalling the history of the campus, Sharma said in 1960, when Kangra was part of undivided Punjab, the land was acquired by the Punjab government solely to establish educational institutions. Later, Punjab CM Partap Singh Kairon transferred it to Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, which opened an agriculture college there. In 1978, the BJP-led state government under then CM Shanta Kumar established Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University on the same land. Sharma suggested that the government utilise the hundreds of acres of vacant government land around Palampur for tourism projects instead of disturbing an educational institution.