Thiruvananthapuram

Steps for acquisition of land for the off-campus of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Malappuram district of Kerala have been expedited, state Education Minister M A Baby today said.

The government plans to acquire about 400 acres of land in Elamkulam and Anamangad panchayats in Malappuram on fast-track mode and hand it over to AMU to develop the campus, Baby told the state assembly in a written reply.

A 40-member acquisition team had been assigned with the task and if necessary, a special officer would be appointed to speed it up, he said. Both the Centre and the AMU had cleared the proposal and asked the state to provide the required land, he said.

He also said that a memorial would be set up in honour of eminent writer Kamala Surayya, who died recently, close to her ancestral home at Punnayurkulam in Thrissur district.

The land gifted by Surayya to Kerala Sahitya Akademi would be utilized for the memorial complex, he said. The memorial would have facilities for holding seminars and would be a place where writers can stay and write, he said.

Surayya, earlier known as Kamala Das, was born in Nalappat Nair family but converted to Islam 10 years back and changed her name.