Trouble for already embattled Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has further compounded, as Uttar Pradesh government has taken a decision to take back and confiscate the land given to the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University run by him by the erstwhile SP government in the state.
The decision has been taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the view of the fact that the institution has failed to uphold the lease conditions. Now, the land site is set to be handed over to the village community at a very low cost in order to establish an industry.
Informing about the decision, finance minister in the government of UP Suresh Khanna told reporters that the decision was taken due to “violations of the conditions of the lease agreement”. He further said, “After reviewing the report submitted by a four-member inquiry committee formed by the Rampur DM, the government has decided to reclaim the land and building. The ownership of this 41,181 sqft land will be transferred back to the Secondary Education Department by the state government.”
According to reports in the media the matter dates back to 1990 when there used to be a Government Murtaza School with 4,000 students near the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) office in the area. But later the school was vacated and the entire property was transferred to the Jauhar Trust in violation of the law. Azam Khan then transferred the land’s license to his private Rampur Public School following the Samajwadi Party’s return to power in 2012.
The present BJP government in the state, however, found this a fraud. The BJP MLA from Rampur questioned how the SP leader was granted land valued at Rs 100 crore for an annual lease of merely Rs 100. He also pointed out that the previous government adversely affected the prospects and jeopardised the future of 4,000 children by disregarding the rules. The process of recovering the land and building of the Jauhar Trust was then initiated by the Department of Secondary Education.
According to reports the land site has now been returned to the local society and there are plans to establish industries there. The action is considered to be a serious setback for Azam Khan, who is presently in jail.
Discussion about this post