Colleges Renting Out Land Is To Be Cracked By Govt

The State government has decided to crack down on aided colleges which received grants and property from the government but rented them out for commercial purposes. The Government has issued some directions to the education department to get information of such colleges found making commercial use of land.

The state has around 71 aided colleges which will continue to get government grant till March 2012. Of the total, Jaipur has 10 such colleges. The move has invited sharp reactions from the administration of such colleges alleging that while suspending the grants they have completely abandoned these colleges.

Most of these colleges have rented a portion of the land provided for commercial use. These colleges include Adarsha Vidhya Mandir and Vedic Kanya Degree College at Raja Park and Dadu Sanskrit Vidhyalaya. The President of Vedic Degree College Saytavrat Samvedi said “At a time when the stopping of grants has raised serious questions on our survival this has happened. The revenue generated from renting out shops is not sufficient to meet the expenses of our peon”.

Samvedi's views were echoed by management heads of other such colleges too. A government official said that “The department has served notices to these colleges seeking legal statement on the status of land followed by inspections. The government will not hesitate to acquire back the land if any misuse is found”.

The government's move came after it came to its notice that many such institutes are raising funds by renting out portion of the college land to allow marriage ceremonies in the evening and by organizing fairs and festivals. The government said such acts are in violation of Rajasthan Non-Government Act and warned these colleges of taking back the land from them.

Further, the Government has scrapped the grants and absorbed teachers from these colleges in government colleges. The grants were scrapped after these colleges failed to deliver quality education. The land for these colleges has been allotted on a token amount to open institutes followed by funds from different agencies to construct labs, classrooms, grounds and other facilities.