Motihari awaits Central Univarsity

Farmers offer land for setting up Central varsity

PATNA: Land acquisition has proved to be a hard nut to crack for state governments across India with farmers not willing to part ways with land. In extreme cases (read Singur), it has also led to bloody battles.

Bihar's East Champaran district, however, appears to be on the course of adding a totally different chapter on this front. For, the farmers of this district have made a beeline to district magistrate's office for providing their land for setting up a Central university.

This, after CM Nitish Kumar during his visit to Motihari, the district headquarters, on November 20, urged locals to provide 1,000 acre of land for setting up a Central university. He also promised that farmers willing to give land would be compensated according to the new land acquisition policy.

His assertion did wonders as within two days of this announcement the office of the district magistrate received proposals for land measuring well over 1,200 acres.

"People of Bihar have understood the importance of development and CM's announcement that farmers would be adequately compensated gave impetus to it," Motihari BJP MLA Pramod Kumar said.

Ramashray Singh, local leader and former MLA of erstwhile Sugauli assembly constituency, echoed Kumar and said, "Local farmers have realised that setting up a Central university would bring many a benefits hence they came forward for giving land."

Incidentally, the land on which this university would be set up falls between Motihari Bapu Dham and Semra railway stations under the Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj section and villagers of Ajgari, Mahmadpur, Siswania, Gobri, Mokhlishpura and Pachrukha have come forward for giving land to this ambitious project.

"Getting adequate compensation is just one of the factors, but what has inspired us is the fact that this area has not witnessed any development since independence. Setting up a Central university would certainly address this problem to a great extent," said former Mukhiya of Siswania Panchayat Sheikh Iqbal who is willing to part ways with 15 acres of his land for the project.

And Iqbal is not alone with such a positive mood rather many villagers of Siswania and adjoining villages too spoke almost on the same line.

Encouraged by the response of these villagers, most of whom are farmers, the district administration will be sending a proposal to the state headquarters on Monday itself regarding likely availability of the land needed for the proposed Central university.

"The way things have moved, we expect to complete the land acquisition work within six to nine months," East Champaran DM Narmadeshwar Lal told TOI over phone on Sunday.

He said that the proposal so far received was well over 1,000 acres of private land despite the fact there was already over 450 acres of government land available in the area.

The demand for setting up a Central university in East Champaran, from where Mahatma Gandhi started his movement way back in 1917, is being raised for quite some time. Local BJP MLA Pramod Kumar had earlier written to the Centre raising this demand. The chief minister's announcement that the state would pursue Centre for setting up a Central university here after acquiring land has instilled a sense of hope among the locals.

TOI