Srinagar, Mar 7: The government Monday made it clear that it won’t shift the Faculty of Forestry of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir (SKUAST-K) from the Chief Minister’s home constituency, Ganderbal.
 Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir informed the Legislative Assembly that the University Council of SKUAST-K in its 16th meeting on March 29, 2007 approved the establishment of the Faculty of Horticulture at Wadoora and Faculty of Forestry at Benihama Ganderbal campuses respectively.
 “There is no question of shifting the Faculty of Forestry from Ganderbal,” Mir told Greater Kashmir this evening.

BACKGROUND
 The development comes in the wake of a major controversy at the SKUAST-K in January this year when the varsity authorities initiated the process to reverse its decision of establishing the Faculty of Forestry at Benihama Ganderbal, drawing flak from academics and students who describes the move as ‘unwarranted.’
 On December 22 past year, the vice-chancellor’s office issued a memo seeking location of the faculty of Forestry at Wadura in north Kashmir as against Benihama.
  “Faculty of Forestry will be located at Wadura. For that purpose suitable land shall be identified by Director Research, PP&MO, Dean Faculty of Forestry, and Associate Dean, FOF, Wadura. While selecting the location, facilities for experiments, irrigation and security shall be taken into consideration,” the memo vide no. SKU-K/SVC/87/2975-78 read.
 It mentioned that the location at Benihama Ganderbal—incidentally the constituency of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah—will form an ‘experimental station’ for the Faculty of Forestry.
 “There is a resolution passed by the University Council three years back which says that the Faculty of Forestry would be established in Benihama. So how can it be shifted?” Ghulam Hassan Mir said.
 The process to establish a full-fledged FoF campus started in 2001. The matter was taken up in the then University Council which rejected it because there was no land available for its establishment. The SKUAST itself had very limited land. But we tried again and were able to get a piece of land at Benihama. After hectic struggle, we got the matter ratified by the statutory bodies like Academic Council, Board of Management and finally the University Council headed by the Chancellor, who is the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Then all the necessary formalities for transfer of land were completed including the consent of the people, the local Member of Legislative Assembly and Minister and then the land was formally transferred.
 On February 27 (2007), the state government transferred 1001 kanals and 04 marlas of land to the SKUAST-K for establishment of the FoF at Benihama vide Govt Order No. Rev (S) 72 of 2007.
 Thereafter, the University Council at its 16th meeting on March 29, 2007 at Raj Bhawan Jammu gave sanction for establishment of the FoF at Benihama vide order No. 618 (Est) of 2007 dated 3.9.2007.
 Subsequently on November 15, 2007, the University initiated action for barbed wire fencing and contracts were allotted to various agencies to fence the premises.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 7 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 7 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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