CHENNAI: HR&CE Minister PK Sekar Babu on Thursday dispelled all allegations and clarified that the Loyola College is not built on any temple or encroached lands. The Minister informed this at a press conference after reviewing the progress made in executing several announcements that were made during the State Assembly’s budget session.
“Following allegations raised in social media regarding Loyola College, HR&CE authorities and I have verified the department records. I was found that the college is not built on any temple or encroached lands. The Revenue department has also confirmed this. Those who raised this allegation did not specify the temple land on which the college is built. However, on verification, we found that the allegation is not true and that it is not built on any temple land.”
Regarding the Kishkinta theme park land issue, the Minister said, “The land where Kishkinta is built was donated by a zamindar for performing poojas to Sri Kasiviswanatha Swamy-Venugopala Swami temple at Pappachatram. A case in this regard was heard between January 28, 2008 till March 6, 2020. The appeal petition by the HR&CE department before the Revenue department was dismissed on August 10. But we are not giving up. Within a week’s time, in consultation with legal experts, we will file an appeal to prove that the land belongs to the temple.”
Furthermore, the Minister said, “As per the Will No 130 of the year 1884, this land was given to the temples for performing poojas. However, the documents relating to this were missing. The HR&CE department has been waging a legal battle for the past 30 years to retrieve this land. We will continue that until this land has been retrieved.” When asked about how many acres of land possessed by Kishkinta comes under HR&CE, the Minister said the entire 177 acres of land belong to the aforesaid temple and that legal efforts would be expedited to retrieve it.
Gone viral
Ahead of Assembly elections, right wing social media handles alleged that Loyola college was built on a temple land on 99-year lease and since the lease is coming to an end by 2021, the college should hand over the land to HR&CE. Now, the minister has clarified on this.