The Himachal Pradesh High Court has halted the state government's plan to transfer 112 hectares of land from Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University (CSKHPKV), Palampur, to the tourism department for a village project.
Issuing an interim order, the division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma directed the authorities, including the chief secretary and the secretaries of tourism and agriculture, to respond by October 17.
The court's decision follows a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers' Association, which argued that the transfer would harm agricultural education. Local residents, students, faculty, alumni, and seven former vice-chancellors had also voiced their opposition, appealing to the government to reverse the decision.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, however, defended the decision in the state assembly on September 6, stating that the land had remained largely undeveloped for nearly five decades. He assured that the university would be provided with private land in the future if required.
Concerns have also emerged over the impact of the land transfer on a proposal to upgrade CSKHPKV to a Central Agricultural University for the North-Western Himalayan Region, a project aimed at benefiting the farming communities of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. Critics argue that the move could disrupt this important educational initiative.
