New Delhi: Despite the allocation of 300 acres of land by the Kerala government, construction of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus in Malappuram has not yet begun, IUML member Abdul Wahab on Tuesday said, urging the government to allocate funds for the project soon or return the land.

Wahab, while participating in a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the working of the Ministry of Education, demanded fund allocation for the AMU's campus. He also asked the government to return the land allotted for the AMU campus at Malappuram to the state government so that it can utilise it by opening a new university.

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"We have acquired 300 acres and given to that campus, but nothing is there. Either you return that property to the Kerala government so that we can set up some universities there," he said.

The land, which was acquired after much difficulty, remains unutilised, Wahab said.

Urging the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was present in the house, he said the state has a scarcity of land.

AMU's South Indian Campus at Malappuram was established in 2010.

He also pointed out that timely disbursement of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) is not happening.

If there is a problem with the name, then change the name, he said.

"Change the name from Maulana Azad to Prime Minister, no problem, we want scholarships," he said, adding that even the disbursal of scholarships for SC/STs is getting delayed. OBC fellowship is late by six to eight months.

He also demanded central assistance to open digital libraries in Kerala as only 3,416 schools out of 16,864 have this facility.

Wahab also demanded to raise the fellowship for non-NET fellowship from Rs 6,000 to Rs 20,000, saying that it is even lower than the payments under the MANREGA scheme.

Jose K Mani of KC (M) said that though the government boasts of record enrolment, the harsh reality is that the learning levels are declining, teachers' vacancies remain unfilled and the school infrastructure in many rural areas is inadequate.

"The truth is education is not a priority for this government. Public investment in education has fallen during the Modi years," he said, adding the Union budget has slashed the education budget from 3.1 per cent in 2014 to 2.9 per cent in 2024.

According to Mani, this is the lowest in the world and demanded that the government should spend around 6 per cent of the GDP on education and make it affordable to all sections of people.

Prafull Patel of NCP said the government schools run by the state governments have not been contemporary enough to change according to the needs of changing times.

As a consequence, most of the municipal schools and zila parishad schools have not kept pace and seats are lying vacant despite free education, while seats in paid CBSE schools are full, he added.

"Somewhere, there is a need to tweak the educational model," he said, suggesting the Centre should encourage the state government to improve the education system.

He also suggested tie-ups with foreign universities to improve the standards.

Kalpana Saini of BJP said NEP is practical and job-oriented. The last 10 years were a golden period for the education sector, when digital education, NEP and other steps were taken. Annual budgets for premier educational institutions, such as IIT, IIM, NITs and Central universities have been increased.

BJP's Ramchandra Jangra and S Selvaganabathy also participated in the discussion.

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