The Telangana Congress government’s issuance of a show-cause notice over 50 acres of land belonging to Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) has triggered sharp unrest on the campus and sparked a wider political and academic debate. The Ranga Reddy district collectorate has sought an explanation from the university administration on why the land, located in survey numbers 211 and 212 of Manikonda village and described as “unused,” has not been put to use so far, and why it should not be taken back by the government.
According to university sources, the notice was recently sent to MANUU Registrar Ishtiaq Ahmed. It states that the land has not been utilized in accordance with the purpose for which it was originally allotted.
Responding to the development, a university official told the media that proposals are already in place to develop academic infrastructure on the vacant land, including colleges, academic blocks, and other institutional facilities. The official said MANUU is a central university established in 1998, and it is not feasible for such institutions to fully utilize the entire allotted land within a short period. Moreover, delays in development are natural due to the approval processes of the University Grants Commission, the Central Public Works Department, and other central agencies.
The university administration is preparing to submit a detailed written response to the Telangana government, clearly outlining its future plans for the use of the land.
Opposition to the notice has come strongly from the “Joint Platform of MANUU Student Organisations (Students’ Collective).” The collective described the move not merely as an administrative action, but as part of a dangerous trend of bringing public university land under state control.
In a joint statement, the students said the issue recalls the land dispute involving Hyderabad Central University (HCU), where university land was treated as real estate rather than an academic resource. They asserted that MANUU’s land is a shared legacy of students, teachers, and future generations, and cannot be taken away under the pretext of “non-utilisation.”
Student groups also demanded that the university administration treat the notice as a serious warning and immediately begin using the land for the construction of hostels, academic buildings, and essential infrastructure, noting that MANUU is facing a severe hostel shortage.
The All India Azad Students League (ASL) MANUU strongly condemned the Congress government’s move, calling it a “politics of intimidation and land grabbing.” The organisation said the notice amounts to a direct attack on a constitutionally protected central university.
In its statement, ASL said MANUU would not accept any form of coercion, pressure, or administrative blackmail. It demanded the immediate withdrawal of the notice and warned that any interference with university land would lead to united and democratic resistance by students.
The Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) MANUU, in its statement, levelled serious allegations against the Telangana Congress government. The organisation said that a government which claims to be a protector of minority rights is now eyeing the land of central universities.
According to SIO, after Hyderabad Central University, MANUU’s land is now being targeted by branding it as “unused.” The organisation said the land of the Urdu university is a collective trust of the students studying there and the teaching and administrative staff serving the institution. Any attempt to seize the land through force or administrative power, it warned, would face the same kind of legal and mass resistance seen in the HCU case.
ABVP MANUU also condemned the show-cause notice, saying that treating a central university established by Parliament as “surplus property” reflects an extremely dangerous mindset. The organisation accused the Congress government of weakening public higher education institutions.
Meanwhile, AUSF MANUU said MANUU is not real estate. The land, it said, is meant for education, students, and minority empowerment, and “not an inch of land will be handed over.”
Ranga Reddy District Collector C. Narayan Reddy confirmed that a show-cause notice had been issued to the university. He described it as part of a routine audit process conducted in 2024 and said the government would decide its next course of action after receiving the university’s response.
Notably, MANUU was established in 1998 and was allotted around 200 acres of land. The dispute over 50 acres has now gone beyond an administrative issue, emerging as a larger question concerning the autonomy of public education institutions, minority rights, and state policy.
