Uttarakhand opposition leader asks CM not to give part of inter college land for engineering college

PITHORAGARH: Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Yashpal Arya on Tuesday opposed allocation of land that belongs to an inter college named after leading freedom fighter for establishing an engineering college campus, and wrote a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami seeking his intervention in the matter. Arya has requested the Chief Minister to ensure that the land of Krishna Nand Upreti Government Inter College is not given to any other institution and officials are instructed to maintain this "legacy" of Pithoragarh town in the 75th year of India's Independence.

Earlier, Congress MLA from Pithoragarh seat Mayukh Mahar, Pithoragarh Zila Panchayat president Dipika Bohra and more than 15 neighbouring Gram Panchayats have opposed allocation of the inter college land named after leading freedom fighter Krishna Nand Upreti to the campus of a border engineering college. Panchayat representatives have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to apprise them with the matter.

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Upreti's grandson Rajesh Mohan Upreti recounts how the late freedom fighter after whom the college is named had toiled hard to collect a contribution of Rs 6,000 from Pithoragarh businessmen settled in Maynamar to establish the first high school of the area. "Establishing an engineering college campus on the land of the inter college would amount to showing disrespect to the contributions of the noted freedom fighter," said his grandson.

The Pithoragarh District Magistrate has sent a proposal to the state government for giving 2.15 acres out of a total of 9.25 acres available with the KN Upreti Government Inter College to the engineering college for building its campus, Chief Education Officer Ashok Kumar Jukariya said. However, the state government's approval to the proposal is still awaited, he said.

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Villagers opposed to the proposal said the state government has already approved 4.2 hectares of land in Maddhoora village for the proposed engineering college campus and spent a sum of Rs 1,419.25 lakh on it. "If an amount is sanctioned once again for building an engineering college campus on KN Upreti Inter College land it will be a misuse of public funds," Janardan Upreti, a resident of Hureti village, said. However, the district administration said Maddhoora village is located in the forest nearly 5 km from the town and it will not be practical especially for girl students to attend college.

"The proposal for building the engineering college at an appropriate piece of land inside the town had come from the parents and guardians of the students only," Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. However, Principal of KN Upreti Inter College, Govind Singh Pokhra said the college has enough land for its purposes and even if 2.15 acres of it are given for building the engineering college campus it would not make any difference. "Otherwise too, part of the inter college land proposed to be taken for building the engineering college campus is of no use to us," Pokhra said.