For the last five months, various state departments have been refusing to give information under the Right to Information Act about the land of an institution, which the BSP government wants to take over for setting up a university in the memory of party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra’s mother.

All the departments — Chief Minister’s secretariat, Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), Social Welfare Department, Handicapped Welfare Department and Urban Development Department — have been passing the buck by saying they do not have the information.

The matter is now before the State Information Commission (SIC), which has scheduled a hearing on August 31. A notice in this regard has been sent to all the departments.

The proposed university for the handicapped — Dr Shakuntala Mishra Rehabilitation University — is coming up at Mohan Road in Lucknow. Adjacent to it is Rajkiya Gobind Ballabh Pant Polytechnic, where 70 per cent seats are reserved for SC/ST students, 25 per cent for OBCs and only five per cent for students of the general category. The government wants to take over a part of the polytechnic’s land for the university.

On March 16, RTI activist Urvashi Sharma had sought information related to the details of the February 25 meeting regarding the transfer of polytechnic institute’s land from the Social Welfare Department to the new university. The meeting was presided over by the secretary of the Urban Development Department.

Instead of replying to Sharma, the CM secretariat on March 20 instructed the UPTU to answer the queries of the applicant.

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