KOLLAM: A crisis has arisen with the government fixing a monthly rent of Rs 3.31 lakh for the private building where the headquarters of Sree Narayanaguru Open University is functioning. The government issued the order regarding the rent last week.

The university had recently paid a one-time amount of Rs 53.01 lakh as rent for 16 months from October 2020 since it started functioning. It will lose a huge amount in the name of rent due to delays in building its headquarters. The open university is using the 979.60 sq m area of ​​the Churangil Building owned by the CJ Foundation in Kureeppuzha as its headquarters. The rent for this was fixed by the government as per the rates of the Public Works Department.

The university syndicate has agreed to find a site within three months to build its own headquarters. The planning department has been tasked with this. The authorities are aiming to find an area from 8 to 20 acres. As it might be difficult to get so much land together, it is proposed to arrange the administration block and ancillary facilities in two places. The University also considered the land owned by Harrison Plantation, which had been acquired by the Revenue Department at Pallithottam. Meanwhile, Harrison approached the court against the acquisition.