Encroachment on 62 acres of Visva-Bharati land: Sukanta
Times of India | 29 July 2025
Kolkata: Union minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar said on Monday that more than 62 acres of land belonging to Visva-Bharati had been encroached upon, despite measures. He was answering a question posed by Lok Sabha member Saumitra Khan.Majumdar said a number of vice-chancellors of Visva-Bharati, on multiple occasions, have raised concerns over encroachment."The university issued administrative notices and consistently sought assistance from the district administration and state govt for the removal of encroachments," he said.Visva-Bharati has seen its land encroached since 1951. A CAG report found that more than 25 acres of Visva-Bharati land had been encroached on between 1951 and 2004.The campus was surveyed and demarcated in 2007-08, with more than 550 pillars installed. In 2017, the Union ministry of human resource development ordered Visva-Bharati to remove encroachments.By that time, many shops along the campus perimeter had changed hands. Majumdar said the university has put up fences and built a 30km boundary around the campus.