A 28-member Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation, comprising 15 sitting MLAs, 10 former MLAs and three district presidents, will submit a memorandum to Rampur district magistrate (DM) Ajay Kumar Dwivedi on Thursday, demanding an immediate halt to the proposed demolition of 38 buildings at Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
The party has termed the Rampur Development Authority’s (RDA) demolition order “contrary to the spirit of the Constitution” and a violation of the Right to Education. “This move will deprive thousands of poor, backward, and Dalit students of access to higher education,” the SP said in a statement. The party also appealed to students and their parents to unite in saving the institution.
Established by senior SP leader Azam Khan through the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, the private university was founded in 2006 and largely caters to students from economically weaker sections.
The dispute arose after the RDA ordered the demolition of 38 of the university’s 40 buildings, alleging they were constructed without approved building plans. According to the authority, only the medical college and one academic block have valid approvals.
The university management has contested the order, stating that most structures were built when the area was under the Zila Panchayat’s jurisdiction and had received approvals from the competent local authority. The RDA rejected the claim and gave the university 15 days to remove the structures or face demolition.
{{/usCountry}}The university management has contested the order, stating that most structures were built when the area was under the Zila Panchayat’s jurisdiction and had received approvals from the competent local authority. The RDA rejected the claim and gave the university 15 days to remove the structures or face demolition.
{{/usCountry}}The university has challenged the order before the Moradabad commissioner, where the matter is scheduled to be heard on July 28.
Meanwhile, the SP’s move comes days after party chief Akhilesh Yadav participated in a students’ protest in New Delhi, with the party now taking up the Jauhar University issue as another student-centric campaign.