Kerala Govt takes a revolutionary Land step

Despite pressures to pay compensation of about 20 to 25 crores for the 75 acres of land to be acquired for setting up the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) at Wayanad, the government at last decides to give Rs 1.9 crore as compensation for the value of improvements/structures the lessee had done in the said land.

The Wayanad district collector had reported to the government that a compensation of Rs 1.9 crore could be given to the lessee for the structures/improvements he had done in the said land at Mananthawadi. The revenue department had forwarded the proposal to the Health department, which has been entrusted to pay the compensation.

The compensation was fixed after the government resumed 75 acres of land in Mananthwadi. In the order that was issued in August, it has been clearly stated that the lessee M/s Glen Leven Estate was not entitled for the value of the land as the jenmom right was vested with the government. However, the lessee is entitled only for the value of improvements/structures it had done in the said land. Moreover, the land was declared as excess land by the Taluk land Board.

Before the government came up with an order to resume the land, there was much pressure for giving compensation for the 75 acres of land. Even the Advocate General had in his legal opinion favoured compensation to the estate owners. The Express had then exposed the move with the Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan taking up the issue. The State Land Board and the Revenue Department had come out against providing compensation. The land Board in its report had said that the 75 acres of land to be acquired came under exempted category and was ''controlled land'' for which no compensation need be given.

Source: The New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/357098/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/16-10-2014#page/5/1

Kerala Resumes Excess Estate Land for medical campus

Despite all pressures from various quarters for giving compensation to the land acquired for setting up the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences (SCTIMST ) at Wayanad, the government has ordered to resume 75 acres of land in Mananthwadi without shelling out a single paise. Earlier there was a move to pay compensation of about 20 to 25 crores for the land that was to be acquired, which the Express had exposed a few months back.

In the order, which is in possession of Express, it says that the lessee M/s Glen Leven Estate in Mananthwadi is not entitled for the value of the land as the jenmom right is vested with the government. However, it says that the lessee is entitled only for the value of improvements/structures it had done in the said land.

''The Wayanad district collector is accordingly directed to acquire 75 acres of land from M/s Glen leven estate for the establishment of the campus of Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences in Wayanad,'' the order dated August 19 said.

There was much pressure on the government to giving compensation for the land. Even the Advocate General had in his legal opinion favoured compensation to the estate owners. The Express had exposed the move with the Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan taking up the issue.

The property that has to be resumed was originally leased out for 99 years in 1941 to V V Joseph and others. After that the dependents of Joseph sold the lease hold right to M/s Glen leven estate.

The decision is said to be a revolutionary one, making it clear that all lease lands are vested with the government. Moreover, the government can now resume all excess land that is now in the illegal possession. 

Source:  The Newindian Express 

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/330249/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/01-09-2014#page/4/1

 

Land for Sreechitra Institute; protest brews against acquisition

Protest is brewing in the outskirts of the city – Ayiroorpara , Mangattukonam and Shastavattam area – against the government's move to acquire land for the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences.

The people in the area are agitated against the alleged unilateral move, stating that the inhabited areas in Ayiroorpara , Mangattukonam and Shastavattam is being acquired for the project even when hundreds of acres of uninhabited land lies adjacent to the proposed project region. They also blame the councillor for having allegedly given the consent for acquiring their land without their knowledge.

Thulaseedharan Mangattukonam, convenor of the Action Council alleged that the people in the area knew about the acquisition only days after the notification period ended. ''Everything was done in secrecy. The councillor had not intimated about the the acquisition,'' he said and added that more than 1000 families will be affected.

Pointing out that the area was filed with paddy fields and was a wet land, he said that the government was acquiring the land in the area when a vast stretch of land was lying adjacent. 

Source: The Newindian Express 

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/220617/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/29-01-2014#page/17/1

Compensation to Plantation; opposition leader raises concern

Kerala Opposition Leader V S Achuthanadan calls for canceling the move to provide compensation illegally to a plantation owner for the land to be acquired for setting up a centre of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in Wayanad. 
Pursuing the case in earnest , he also sent a letter to Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash urging him to interfere in the matter at the earliest. He said that the move to give compensation for the government land was illegal and would lead to corruption.

In the letter quoting the news from Express, he said ''it is learned that the government proposes to acquire 75 acres of land from Glen leven estate and to give a compensation of Rs 25 crore. This land has been declared as excess land by the Taluk land Board and is entrusted to the government. However, the government is moving ahead for giving compensation to Glen Leven company citing technical reason that the land has not been taken from them.'' As the land has been declared 'excess land', there was no impediment in acquiring the land and giving it to the Institute, he added.

Achuthanandan also mentions in the letter that the opinion given by the Special government pleader (revenue) against giving compensation was not taken into account by certain revenue officials concerned. They then approached the Advocate general who had given a legal opinion that compensation could be given, he said and alleged that certain revenue officials and the AG were hand in glove.

Source: the New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/174154/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/19-10-2013#page/5/1

Land for Sree Chitra Institute caught in compensation issue

The proposal to set up a centre of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in Wayanad has met with a roadblock with the Revenue Department coming out against the move to grant compensation to the owners of the Glen Leven Estate citing that it was actually government land.
The 75 acres of land to be acquired that comes under exempted category is controlled land for which the revenue department says that no compensation need to be given. It is learned that a compensation of about 20 to 25 crores is proposed to be given to the land owners. ''There is no need to give compensation to exempted land when it is acquired,'' highly places sources said.

The report of the Revenue Divisional Office, Manandavadi dated November 30, 2012, says that an extent of 64.93 acres belonging to Glen Level estates is declared as excess land by the Taluk Land Board. Once declared as excess land, it has to be surrendered to the government free of cost. There is no provision to give compensation to excess land under the land acquisition Act, they said.

source: the newindian express

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