Admn reclaims land worth Rs 400 crore from Indore Christian College

Indore: District administration's order to reclaim 1.702 hectares of prime land from Indore Christian College has apparently cast a shadow of uncertainty over the current academic session of nearly 2,300 students enrolled at the institution.The administration declared the prime land, located near Indore railway station and valued at approximately Rs 400 crore, a govt property. According to the order issued by Collector Shivam Verma, an investigation revealed that the land—survey number 407/1669/3—did not fall under the ‘ownership' category of the college under Section 158 of the MP Land Revenue Code, 1959. Instead, it was classified as ‘Government Land.'The administration noted that the land was originally a conditional ‘ordinary grant' provided by Maharani Bhagirathibai Holkar to the ‘Mission' specifically to operate a college and a hospital for women. The Collector's order stated that the original ‘Mission' to which the land was granted no longer existed, no women's hospital was currently operational on the site, and the college was run by a different entity charging fees, which deviated from the original intent. The order also stated that permission sought from Town & Country Planning department for commercial use of the land was viewed as evidence that the institution strayed from its foundational purpose.Additional Tehsildar of Juni Indore was directed to take possession of the land within three days, the order stated.Responding to the order, College principal Amit David said that the land was a ‘gift' and not a lease. He said that the college was considering an appeal to divisional commissioner or the court, though their request could not be placed immediately due to the weekend holidays and Republic Day on Monday."Both the college and the hospital are operational," the principal said. Regarding allegations of commercial use, he said that the college only sought permission to construct shops and offices to generate revenue, similar to other institutions that were allotted govt lands, but did not commence any construction."Just seeking permission does not constitute a violation; if denied, we would drop the plan," he told TOI.The most immediate concern remained the fate of 2,300 students pursuing degrees in Law, Commerce, and Arts. With final examinations scheduled to begin in February, the college administration admitted they were clueless about how to proceed if the campus was seized. "Given the present scenario, we see no way out how to complete this academic session" David said. "We read the collector's order in newspaper and have yet not received any formal notice/order in this regard," he added.Caption: The college, which was set up in 1887, was alma mater of Bollywood playback singer and actor Kishore Kumar who was enrolled here between 1946 and 1948 for intermediate studies after completing high school in his hometown Khandwa