Krishna: University with a borrowed campus

VIJAYAWADA: The Krishna University which was set up at former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s initiative at Machilipatnam, is running from a rented block at the National College three years since inception. It has no campus of its own. The university runs its 11 courses from eight class rooms conducted in a shift system.The state government allotted 200 acres of land for the university in a sea-side village called Tavisapudi. The infrastructure company Maytas, which was entrusted the Machilipatnam port project, objected to the university’s located there. It was also within the coastal regulatory zone. So the allotment was cancelled.While the university receives `2.5 crore every year for staff salaries, it has nothing to fund its buildings.After continuous pressure from vice-chancellor M K Durga Prasad, the government allotted 102 acres and 45 acres of land at Rudravaram and Gudur villages respectively. The university authorities are planning to develop campuses at both places.However, the land in Rudravaram is a landscape of abondoned fish ponds. The university will have to invest crores of rupees to level the grouond. This is a herculean task, given that the university budget is barely enough to pay salaries. Therefore, the university authorities have focused on the Gudur site to build its first campus. To add to its woes, the varsity is facing problems from politicians too. The Rudravaram site comes falls in Machilipatnam constituency and Gudur in Pedana constituency. The local MLA of Pedana is not allowing the construction of buildings at Gudur because it was sanctioned under the Machilipatnam constituency. Thus hangs the destiny of Krishna University.