JNAFAU asks government to direct TGCHE to vacate campus building

Facing space shortage for academic activities, JNAFAU has asked the State government to direct TGCHE to vacate its rented campus building. The move follows the Council’s request to transfer 1,500 square yards of land along with the existing building

Hyderabad: Facing acute shortage of space for holding academic activities, the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU) recently asked the State government to direct the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) to vacate its building, which it has been using on the campus on rent for several decades.

This is the fourth such notice served on the TGCHE in the last eight years. The first notice had been served on January 10, 2018, after the JNAFAU’s EC wanted the government’s intervention in vacating buildings occupied by the TGCHE and AICTE, which had already shifted.

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The latest move by the University comes in view of the TGCHE’s February 19, 2026 letter to the Hyderabad district collector, seeking transfer of 1,500 square yards out of the total 13.87 acres, along with the present varsity building, which exists in the name of the Technical Education director, to the TGCHE. The Council backed this request citing recommendations of a three-member committee.

Following the committee’s recommendations, the then Commissioner of Technical Education Navin Mittal on January 28, 2023 issued a proceeding giving a NoC to alienate 1,500 square yards, including built-up area of the existing building, to the TGCHE. It asked the JNAFAU to transfer the building to the TGCHE for Rs. 6.65 crore.

The CTE had also asked the Council to write to the Hyderabad district collector for transfer of land in the TGCHE’s name. While the Council wrote to the district administration on February 14, 2023 and June 6, 2023, seeking a detailed report with remarks on the 1,500 square yards of land, no reply has been received yet.

However, the JNAFAU opposed the move, stating that the CTE’s proceeding was technically invalid without amending the University Act No. 31 of 2008 (JNAFAU) through the Legislative Assembly and government orders.

Presently, apart from the TGCHE, the building houses offices of TAFRC, DOST and the varsity’s classrooms, workshops and laboratories. The Council is also facing parking and power backup issues.

The Council, which approached the government seeking a permanent resolution in the past, was asked to look for a building in the city. While officials inspected office availability, including in the SCERT complex, Basheer Bagh, Buddha Bhavan, Municipal Director’s office in Masab Tank and Hermitage Office Complex in Nampally, nothing materialised.