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Goa University:Cutting off the roots The slow whittling away at Goa University's land and stature by the government, is not the right way to treat an integral state institution By Pamela D'Mello The Goan, 14 September 2015 As Panjim expands and spreads into the neighbouring villages, as government finds the need to put in more infrastructure for some of the major events (like the International Film Festival of India) that it hosts and other utilities and for myriad private interests ---- the state’s premier public university has been seen as a sitting duck. It has been steadily losing its campus land, as government finds it convenient to simply help itself to campus land, rather than search for alternative sites to locate some of its buildings. University Executive Council sources admit that the university is all the time under tremendous pressure from government to part with additional parcels of its campus. As a state funded university, dependent on government funds and approvals for all its requirements, including filling of faculty posts, service extensions et al---- the university finds itself at a distinct disadvantage. The current Vice Chancellor has repeatedly pointed this out in the public, arguing for the constitution of a task force of citizens to help draw a master plan to preserve Goa University’s property. From the data, it is quite clear there is scant respect for the geographic integrity of the university campus, by the very entity that set it up and is charged with fostering its present and future growth. Of the 16.30 lakh sq m, the University was allotted when it was set up in June 1985, it has already lost 43,000 sq m to four non educational buildings constructed by government on its campus over the years. The ETDC complex hosting the electronic testing lab of the central government was granted a 99 year lease on 3500 sq m, at Rs 1 per year. The BSNL telephone exchange occupies 2500 sq m on similar conditions. Both of these caused some disquiet when they were located on campus. But the campus lost considerably, when the Sports Authority of Goa took 30,000 sq m to locate the Dr Shyama Prasad Indoor Stadium complex on University land, for which the University does not even have a lease agreement. A draft MOU sent to SAG for finalization has yet to be approved and returned back, according to official information tabled before the legislature. Goa University has earned nothing on the transfer of land and would probably have to pay for usage of the under-utilised stadium, if and when it chooses to do so. Further, the government has yet to transfer 7000 sq m back to Goa university in exchange for an electric sub station it located on campus. Adding to the University’s nightmare is the Bambolim-Dona Paula road widening that has segmented the campus to its detriment, besides reportedly claiming 45,000 sq m of land and 752 trees. A highway segmenting a campus, rather than skirting its perimeter, is hardly an ideal situation for any university. Without a compound wall demarcating its boundary --- neglected for lack of government funds --- the campus has been losing land to private encroachments and roads that suddenly materialize for the mushrooming constructions on what has now become prime real estate in the Bambolim area. It is believed to be fighting some six cases in various courts. Neighbouring panchayats have their own legitimate needs, but having invested in the idea of a public state university, there is certainly need for all stakeholders to protect the idea. According to official information, existing university buildings occupy 1.16 lakh sq m, and other utilities, landscaping, sports complexes apart, Goa University has around 10.37 lakh sq m yet to be utilized. The current vice chancellor, has rightly sought to protect the university’s educational integrity, by suggesting other professional government educational institutions could relocate to its campus. Though some colleges within the city are willing to do so, the idea does not seem to find too much favour with government. Cost may be a factor, but the principle behind the suggestion to maintain the university’s educational purpose must be respected. Governments, past and present, admittedly have their compulsions and infrastructural requirements. But so do universities. A state university is a vision for the future. Education and higher education are long term investments in human resources and well being. It hardly makes sense to forego the future needs of Goa University’s educational mandate for short term technical solutions. The Bambolim campus is on prime land, and that makes it vulnerable. In the three decades since its setting up, there can be no denying that the University has grown and served a purpose, making higher education accessible to young Goans. . It hardly makes sense to talk about making Goa an educational hub, while whittling down the state run university. In the current economic thinking that banks heavily on privatization, private universities find favour with governments, but their prohibitive fee structures keep out those most in need of advancement. The Goa University has innumerable challenges of quality, caliber, course orientation/structures and perhaps direction --- but in an ecosystem where education is being rapidly monetized by private players --- the public funded university offers a path to upward mobility for lakhs of students from underprivileged backgrounds. Public funded higher education, despite all its administrative drawbacks, has been the vehicle for leveling the playing field for students from different economic backgrounds. From that standpoint, the Goa University merits protection, in all its dimensions, geographic and physical and educational. -- Pamela D'Mello, senior freelance journalist http://goadecode.wordpress.com http://pameladmello.wordpress.com