Harish Rao accuses Revanth Reddy of targeting university lands
HYDERABAD: Former minister Harish Rao on Monday accused the Revanth Reddy government of deliberately weakening Telangana’s higher education system by targeting university lands for non-academic purposes.
Alleges systematic assault on universities and research centres
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Rao said universities, meant to be centres of learning and research, were being reduced to real estate assets, putting the future of coming generations at risk. “Development is not about constructing buildings. It is about protecting research institutions that nurture knowledge for future generations,” he said.
Rao alleged that more than 100 acres were forcibly taken from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University and Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University. He said 60 acres belonging to a medicinal and aromatic plants research centre, protected for over six decades, were completely destroyed, resulting in the loss of valuable research assets.
Environmental damage and threat to wildlife
He further alleged that over 400 acres of forest land belonging to University of Hyderabad were mortgaged and damaged, disrupting the local ecosystem and threatening wildlife habitats.
According to Rao, the government has now turned its attention to Maulana Azad National Urdu University, with plans to take over 50 acres of its land using a similar approach.
Calls it attack on autonomy of higher education
“These are not isolated incidents. This is a deliberate attack on the education system and the autonomy of universities,” Rao said. He questioned the government’s commitment to students, research and environmental protection, and asked whether educational institution lands were being viewed as real estate ventures.
Calling the actions “shameful”, Rao demanded an immediate halt to land acquisitions involving universities and urged the government to return the land to the institutions concerned. He warned that students and civil society in Telangana would not remain silent if the issue was ignored.
