THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Upset by the illegal transfer of land originally allotted to the CAG to a government department, Principal Accountant General (Kerala) has written to the chief secretary, urging him to take steps to clear the encroachment and return the land immediately to the CAG.
The letter followed the attempt of KITE-Victers — the educational channel under the general education department — to fence the 55 cents of land under the possession of CAG at Valiyasala in Thycaud village in the city.
It was in January, 2017 that the government allotted the 55 cents to CAG in lieu of 30 cents the central government institution had surrendered a few years ago for widening the MG road. The CAG was granted title deed for the land in March, 2017 and the institution paid land tax for it subsequently.
A proposal to construct an apartment complex as staff quarters in the area was mooted by the PAG and the head office gave sanction, too. On February 1, during a site inspection, officials of the PAG’s office noticed the land had been fenced and a board of KITE-Victers erected there.
Upon inquiry by the PAG, it was revealed that in October last year, the general education department assigned the same land to KITE-Victers to construct a studio-cum-headquarters complex. The department claimed the land belonged to Government UP School, Valiyasala.
‘Order to hand over land to CAG was based on cabinet decision’
Though the land was originally under the possession of the school, the ownership of the school ceased to exist after it was assigned to the CAG. The land that was valued for Rs 4.74 crore in 2017 will now cost around Rs 5.5 crore. PAG Anim Cherian chose to write to the chief secretary after efforts to settle the issue with the district collector failed, said sources.
In his letter, Cherian noted that all procedures for getting legal rights for the land including registration of title deed and payment of basic land tax and service charges, have been completed. “We’re awaiting allotment of funds from the Union ministry of urban development to start construction of staff quarters. In the meantime, CAG office also accorded administrative approval and expenditure sanction to construct a compound wall to prevent encroachment,” said the letter.
A senior official said the state government was trying to find out what had gone wrong. “The order to hand over the land to CAG was based on a cabinet decision. If a department issues another order bypassing a cabinet decision, that won’t stand legal scrutiny. All files need to be perused before finding out what actually has happened,” he said.