Uttarakhand's National Law University Still Non-Functional 15 Years After Act

Fifteen years after the Uttarakhand Assembly passed a law to establish a National Law University (NLU), the state still does not have a single functional law university. The proposed institution has neither a permanent campus nor a first batch of students.

The delay stands out when compared with the two other states created in November 2000. Chhattisgarh established the Hidayatullah National Law University in Raipur in 2003, while Jharkhand set up the National University of Study and Research in Law in Ranchi in 2010.

The proposed location for Uttarakhand's NLU has shifted repeatedly — from Bhowali in Nainital district to Pantnagar in Udham Singh Nagar, then to Ranipokhari near Dehradun, and now Haldwani is under consideration.

The uncertainty over the site reached the High Court, which in 2018 directed the state government to establish the university. The court also clarified that academic sessions need not wait for a permanent campus and could begin from a government building or rented premises.

In 2019, then Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat laid the foundation stone at Ranipokhari for what was projected as the country's 23rd NLU. Seven years later, the university remains non-functional.

Students from the state continue to seek admission in NLUs elsewhere, often bearing higher accommodation and travel costs and losing access to domicile-linked opportunities available in some institutions.

The absence of an NLU is particularly significant for a Himalayan state facing complex questions relating to environmental disputes, forest rights, disasters, land laws and migration.