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Shillong, June 7: Meghalaya Agriculture Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh on Friday said the state government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Central Agriculture University is set up in Meghalaya.

A proposal to establish the Central Agricultural University in Meghalaya was initiated in 2010.

A land measuring 226.37 acres at Kyrdemkulai in Ri-Bhoi District was handed over on December 4, 2014 to the vice-chancellor of Central Agriculture University, Imphal, Dr SN Puri for the purpose of establishing the CAU, Meghalaya.

However, instead of the Central Agriculture University, the College of Agriculture is being constructed at Kyrdemkulai which falls under the CAU, Imphal.

An RTI filed by one Arju Dkhar revealed that a letter dated January 22, 2019 sent by the Dean of college of agriculture, Kyrdemkulai, U.K. Behera to the director of Meghalaya agriculture department informed that the college of agriculture at Kyrdemkulai is a constituent college under the CAU, Imphal.

“At present, we do not have any information about the Central agriculture university in Meghalaya,” Behera said in the letter.

Lyngdoh said that the matter came to light after an inspection was conducted to the site last year, soon after he took over as the minister of Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.

He informed that he had sought the intervention of the then Union Minister for Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh into the matter during his visit to the state on July 28, last year and submitted a memorandum to him. The Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma had also written a letter to the Centre on this issue.

The then governor Ganga Prasad had also taken up the matter on August 2, last year, but unfortunately, there has been no response from the Centre till today.

“Therefore, we have decided to aggressively pursue this matter with the new government at the Centre because Meghalaya deserves to get the CAU especially when the matter has been assured in Parliament,” the minister said.

Asked if there are forces behind wanting to stop the establishment of the CAU in Meghalaya, Lyngdoh said, “May be there is something behind, and we need to get a clear clarification from the Centre on this matter.”

“The previous government in the state should have also opposed, especially when the construction of the college was to start at Kyrdemkulai. The previous government should have raised a question why they are building the college and not the university,” Lyngdoh said.

A statement was made in Parliament by former Union Minister of State (Agriculture) Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya on May 3, 2016 in reply to the parliamentary question No 1536 that the Centre had decided to set up a Central Agricultural University.

“We will not rest, and the state government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the University is set up in Meghalaya, as has been assured in Parliament,” he added.