40 Bighas In Bahraich: AMU to set up school on land it received as donation 61 years ago

Local zamindar Choudhary Santram had donated the land at Mehsi tehsil’s Maigla village in Bahraich district, bordering Nepal, in 1954. He had donated 41 bigha and 13 biswa of land each to AMU and BHU in the village.

[related-post]

Since then, the land had been lying unutilised. Local villagers claimed that while the BHU administration had given the land on lease to a farmer, the area belonging to AMU was vacant.

“We are aware of the land that was donated to the university in Bahraich. We have all the papers. It is just that nobody bothered so far to utilise the land,” V-C Shah told The Sunday Express. He added: “Sir Syed Educational Foundation, a registered society, will set up the secondary school after AMU founder Sir Syed. Locals have helped a lot in this regard and we reciprocate their gesture.”

The documents concerning the land were lying buried in AMU’s property section when a doctor from Bahraich, Abdul Wajood, took up the matter with university. “I met the AMU authorities and now the matter has been revived. AMU officials had told me that they will visit Bahraich on September 16 but they did not come. They asked me to display a board on the land, which has been done,” he said.

Aong with the board, declaring that the property belongs to AMU, a few saplings have also planted on the land. “We will soon send a team for spot inspection and the process for setting up of the school will begin,” Shah said.

Meanwhile, BHU authorities said they have no plans to utilise the land. “We have received land as donations in several parts of the country but we cannot open institutes everywhere. The property, however, remain with BHU,” Rajesh Kumar, Public Relations Officer of BHU, said.