Establishment of a tribal university in Vizianagaram district has remained a distant dream in spite of availability of 526 acres of land at Relli village, near Kothavalasa of Vizianagaram district.
According to officials, the Union government has to take steps for its establishment since the State government provided required land for the university which is expected to benefit tribal students of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts apart from other places.
The Central team which visited the site in February, 2015 expressed happiness as it was having good train and air connectivity from Visakhapatnam. The distance from Relli village to Visakhapatnam is only 40 km and it helps many top professors to come for guest lecturers in the proposed university.
The Union government announced allocation of ₹10 crore in the budget but actual construction has not yet begun. The recent tangle between the State government and the Centre has put the proposal in cold storage. Many public representatives, NGOs and people of tribal areas have been agitating for its early establishment.
Neglected sections
Former MP D.V.G. Sankara Rao urged the Union government to fulfil its promise immediately since the issue was related to most neglected sections of the society.
“Both governments can take steps for commencement of classes at least from the next academic year 2019-20 by utilising the existing infrastructure in Andhra University or other places. They can shift the students to tribal university after construction activity is completed,” he said while speaking to The Hindu.
YSRCP political coordinator of Vizianagaram Majji Srinivasa Rao alleged that the State government had failed to put up pressure on the Centre for the establishment of premier educational institution. “The Union government can do justice only this year since all parties will be in election mood in 2019,” he said. Former Union Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that the Central government had not moved in spite of repeated requests.
“Modi government has not shown much interest for the improvement of infrastructure for IIM-Visakhapatnam and tribal University at Kothavalasa in spite of allocation of land for both the institutions,” he said.
S.Kota MLA Kolla Lalita Kumari said that the TDP government had taken steps on a war- footing to convince people to vacate land for the establishment of the tribal university.
“But our efforts did not yield results due to lack of support from the Union government,” she said.
‘Delegation for Delhi’
BJP Kisan Morcha State president Pudi Tirupati Rao told The Hindu that a delegation of the party would be going to New Delhi on July 22 to seek support from the Union government for ongoing projects and pending proposals. “We hope the response would be positive from the Centre this time. We will overcome all the hurdles and ensure establishment of tribal university very soon,” he added.