By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Malappuram: The foundation stone of the academic buildings of the Malappuram Special Centre of the Aligarh Muslim University will be laid next month at Chelamala near Perinthalmanna, in the land allocated for the centre.
The AMU has reportedly allotted Rs 3.2 crores for the first phase of construction activities, Rs 1 crore of which will go to the setting up of the library. The construction of the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of November and classes will be shifted to the new campus in December. The deans of departments have also been reportedly permitted to appoint extension lecturers to solve the problem of lack of teaching staff. The appointment will be for one month and afterwards may be extended. The first phase of construction includes class rooms, seminar hall, library, girls-boys hostel and faculty quarters. The allocation of funds for infrastructural development has come soon after the re-instatement of powers of the AMU VC Dr PK Abdul Azeez.
There are three phases for the infrastructure development of the new campus which the university should do. The construction of the compound wall comes in the first phase which began this year and is progressing. The second phase consists of the construction of semi-permanent buildings and the third phase is the construction of the permanent buildings. The semi-permanent buildings will be built in such a way that they can be used for workshops etc even after the construction of the permanent buildings.
However, at present, the academic functions are going on in three buildings rented by the state government, as per a deal between the state government and the AMU. The campus authorities had reportedly expected to shift the academic classes to the new building by November 2011, but that could not be done and the problems in the AMU main campus including the restriction of powers of the VC had created more hurdles. The VC could not make any new appointments, begin any new projects or even allocate funds.
Dr P Muhammed, Director of the Malappuram Special Centre spoke to TwoCircles.net about the problems faced by the centre due to the restriction of powers of the VC. “The restriction of the powers of the VC came at a time when we were ready for the interview of the faculty in the MBA department. And at the time, the term of the Indian President’s nominee in the selection committee had ended and a new person had to appointed, but no new appointments could be done. We could not even appoint guest faculty. Also the money for the second phase of development could not be handed over to the central PWD department which deals with the work.”
The last government in Kerala had been moving things very fast in its final months for the acquisition of land and other matters related to the centre. That pace slowed down during the state elections and the coming of the new UDF government. And in between came the problems in the AMU main campus in Aligarh. There have been reports that the central Human Resources Department was not supportive of the activities for the centre. The central Minister of State for Human Resources Development Mr E Ahmed visited the centre along with State Education Minister PK Abdurabb and held discussions with the centre’s authorities. Soon after, the HRD reportedly gave a clarification that the projects that have already been begun wouldn’t be affected by the restrictions on the VC. And now, the removal of restrictions on the VC’s powers has also come as a boon to the centre.
Besides the provision of rented buildings for academic classes, the state government is also providing hostel for boys and girls, as per the agreement. It should arrange road, water and electricity also. The road construction is progressing and the state still has to acquire land for the construction of the 30-metre wide road connecting the Campus with the State High Way.