``As promised by my predecessor, I am prepared to acquire the premises for Rs 3.13 crore, but it will not serve any purpose, since the students as well as teachers there have already been absorbed in neighbouring schools. Under such circumstances, if we acquire the premises, it will be aiding the owner of the building,'' Rane said.

Intervening during a reply to a question raised by leader of opposition Madhukar Pichad and RR Patil, the CM said in fact the Cabinet had taken a decision to acquire the premises mainly to protect the interest of students and teachers.

Subsequently, when the alliance government invited applications for running the school, there was no response. ``While the last date for submission of application formswas March 15, we have not received a single application,'' Rane added.

Congress member R R Patil recalled the assurance given by former CM Manohar Joshi on the floor of the House that the state government would purchase the land if there were no takers.

Earlier, replying to supplementaries, School Education Minister Sudhir Joshi informed the house that students and teachers of the school had been accommodated in other schools. Besides, despite advertisements in newspapers, not a single educational trust had come forward to run the school.

In a written reply, Higher and Technical Education Minister Datta Rane said a committee under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University has been set up to study the feasibility of granting autonomy to colleges in Maharashtra.

Rane said Governor P C Alexander, who is also chancellor of all universities in the state, had convened a meeting of the committee on February 22 to discuss the issue.

It was decided in the meeting that the universities and thestate government should strive to provide autonomy to more colleges in the state, he added.

Alexander told the committee members that the modalities, rules and regulations of granting autonomy should first be worked out. State-level meetings of teaching and non-teaching staff should be taken to make them understand the necessity and importance of granting autonomy, Rane added.