Decks have been cleared for the land acquisition process for the permanent headquarters of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and the process will begin on Thursday.
The university headquarters would be built on 50 acres of land in the first block of Vilappil village in Kattakada taluk.
A decision on setting up the new campus of the university at Vilappilsala was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on February 21, 2017. At a subsequent meeting on December 18, 2018, attended by the then Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel, Kattakada MLA I.B. Satheesh, Vice Chancellor of the KTU and officials from the Higher Education and Revenue departments, it was decided to move forward with the land acquisition.
Following the administrative approval for the project on December 24, 2018, the Revenue department initiated the land acquisition procedures on July 3, 2019. The District Collector accepted the social impact assessment report prepared by the Centre for Management Development in 2020, and authorisation was given to begin surveying the area to be bought. The 19 (1) notification under the Land Acquisition Act 2013 was issued by the Revenue department in January 2021. In February, as part of the government’s 100-day programme, the Chief Minister officially unveiled the University Campus Project.
₹184.5 crore approved
A high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister on August 11, 2021 resolved to acquire 50 acres of land immediately in the first phase. Following that, the government accepted the university’s alignment plan and a sum of ₹184.5 crore was approved for the purchase of a 50-acre plot of land. The Vice-Chancellor will receive the documents of 51 landowners from the Revenue authorities on Thursday, signalling the start of the land acquisition process.
The university will complete the entire process within a month and take over 50 acres of land from 136 landowners, said Vice Chancellor M.S. Rajasree.
