THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cabinet’s decision to set up the proposed IGNOU Southern Regional Campus at Chavara in Kollam district was apparently sabotaged for vested interest, it has been pointed out. The Cabinet on June 29 this year decided to grant 8 acres of prime land with NH frontage on the premises of the now defunct Kerala Primo Pipe factory at Chavara. It was following the Kollam District collector’s report that land was available at bloc No.22 (Resurvey 29/2) of the Neendakara Village that the Cabinet took the decision in this regard.The selection of the site was reportedly made by considering the educational backwardness of the nearby areas and to provide easy access to the coastal people. Based on the Cabinet decision, the government issued orders to grant the land on July 11, 2011 and directed the District Collector to initiate steps in this regard under the land assignment rules. However, owing to political pressure the then IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V N Rajasekharan Pillai allegedly kept the IGNOU Board in the dark about the availability of land at Chavara, it is alleged. It is further alleged that Speaker G Karthikeyan’s wife Sulekha, who is the regional coordinator at IGNOU’s Southern Regional office, played a role in the shifting of the site. The new site for the proposed campus is at the Jersey Farm at Vithura in Thiruvananthapuram district where no infrastructure facility is available. Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, who wanted the campus at Chavara, told ‘Express’ that Rajasekharan Pillai had assured him that the location would be Chavara. ‘’The proposal was included even in the State Budget. But when it was decided to shift the site to Vithura, I was not told. I felt myself betrayed,’’ he said. However, Shibu said that the campus required 25 acres of land, which was not available at Chavara, and this was the reason behind the shifting of the location to Vithura. It was after the resignation of Rajasekharan Pillai as Vice-Chancellor that the present leadership of IGNOU realised that the government had granted land at Chavara. IGNOU, which is reeling under severe financial crisis, has to dole out lakhs of rupees to set up infrastructure facilities such as road, power connection and water supply for the campus, top IGNOU officials told ‘Express.’ on condition of anonymity.‘’You may claim that Vithura is an emerging educational hub of the capital district where ICER and IIST are located. But it is not so important to have the southern regional campus of the IGNOU at the same place. Instead, it would have been helpful for the students from Kollam and Alappuzha districts, especially from the coastal belt, to have the campus at Chavara,’’ Anil Kumar, an MBA student registered with the IGNOU and a native of Kayamkulam, told ‘Express.’
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