Kochi: The Maharaja’s College has not received the compensation amount of Rs 8.80 crore for the 16.5 cents of the land of the college ground acquired for the Kochi Metro Rail project.
The Old Students Association of the college has been asking the authorities concerned to handover the compensation amount to the Public Works Department (PWD) and use the amount for setting up a new women’s hostel, renovation of men’s hostel, construction of Astroturf hockey stadium and basketball stadium of the college campus.
The association has submitted representation to the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy way back in 2014 through the then excise minister K Babu, said CICC Jayachandran, an ex-student of the Maharajas College and a leader of the old students association.
“It is time that the people making a hue and cry about weapons being seized from the college campus shows some interest in such a serious matter”, he said.
The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd has provided compensation to everyone for land acquired for the metro project. “There was no reason for them to deny the compensation for the Maharaja’s College, especially when the money was to be utilized for improving the basic infrastructure of the campus”, he said.
A letter from the Higher Education Department addressed to the college principal dated in March 2014 also mentioned about money needed to be transferred to the PWD for undertaking the above mentioned projects. Although three years have passed nobody is having an idea about the status of the amount or the fate of the renovation and construction of the projects. “It is a pity that when the metro is all set to start operations Maharajas, one of the oldest colleges in Ernakulam, is still groping in the dark about the compensation due to it for the land acquired for the project”, Jayachandran said.
