Govt's decision to sell varsity land stirs political pot

Infuriated opposition vows to take the matter to court and convene a jirga

PESHAWAR:

The decision to sell unutilized land acquired for universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has ignited a fierce debate over the future of higher education, with opposition leaders vowing to deploy every possible effort to thwart the government's plan.

Sources within the Higher Education Department reveal that the provincial government, facing intense pressure to resolve Rs. 25 billion in outstanding payments to landowners, has been left with no choice but to sell unutilized university land to meet its financial obligations.

According to details available with the Express Tribune, during the tenure of the Awami National Party (ANP), 5,000 kanals of land was acquired for the Bacha Khan Greater Campus in Mardan. This land includes Abdul Wali Khan University (2,000 kanals), the Amir Mohammad Khan Campus of Agriculture University Peshawar (1,488 kanals), UET Mardan (400 kanals), and Bacha Khan Medical College (1,000 kanals). A portion of this land remains unused, and the government still owes substantial amounts to the landowners.

When asked to comment, former chief minister and ANP leader, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, described the land sale as an attempt to sell off national assets. "The ANP and other parties will fully resist this decision. We will not permit anyone to sell the future of our next generation," Hoti said. He also took the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to task for failing to deliver on its promises to convert the Governor House into a public library and the Chief Minister House into a public university. "Instead, they are now selling off university land in Mardan," he said. To up the ante further, the former chief minister announced plans to organize a political jirga involving all political parties, including the PTI, to pressure the government to reverse its decision.

Adding to the criticism, Faisal Kareem Kundi, the Chancellor of Universities and Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, expressed his disapproval. He accused the provincial government of lacking vision in education policy and criticized the exclusion of university chancellors from key decision-making processes. "The PTI has set fixed rates for everything, and soon they will fix the rate for the Chief Minister's House in Peshawar as well," Kundi said.

In a similar vein, Syed Ali Shah Bacha, the provincial president of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), condemned the government's decision. He announced that the PPP plans to file a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court to challenge the sale of university land.

In response to the outcry, Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan Afridi defended the government's actions, explaining that the Rs. 25 billion in arrears necessitated the sale. Afridi clarified that not all university land would be sold, only the land associated with the outstanding debts. The minister emphasized that, according to Higher Education Commission (HEC) standards, each university requires only 120 kanals of land, and that selling off excess land would not impact the universities' performance.