Civil
Society Groups to protest and oppose visit
of President and Chief Justice of India to KIIT-Why?
All of you are aware that the very KIIT, which was
once housed in a rented single room in 1992, now boasts of 10 sprawling wifi
enabled campuses in Patia area of Bhubaneswar. What is the magic behind such
progress of an institution within short a span of time? Is it outcome of selfless efforts of Sri
Achyut Samant , the founder of KIIT or any marvellous game plan designed by him? The so-called success story of KIIT’s
phenomenal growth was in fact brought to limelight by CAG (Comptroller and
Auditor General of India). As per CAG Report, out of total 89 acres of
land leased out to KIIT by IDCO, allotment of 82 acres is illegal. CAG Report
has shown Sri Achyut Samant has grabbed land by adopting all manners of illegal
and fraudulent means which is not expected of a person who projects himself as
an eminent educationalist and founder of KIIT University. He has developed the
entire infrastructure by giving bribe to corrupt bureaucrats for encroaching the government land time and again and manipulating the IDCO
authority to regularise the same in violation of Odisha Prevention of Land
Encroachment Act, 1972.
Moreover, the CAG Audit
scrutiny has revealed that although direct allotment of land to KIIT by
IDCO was meagre ( 7. 083 acres), there were instances of undue benefit extended
to KIIT in acquiring the remaining land
( 82.087 acres) violating procedures of
land allotment which resulted in
a loss of Rs.
252.54 acres. Besides that KIIT has again occupied unauthorised 18.864 acres of
land , the benchmark valuation of land being Rs. 94.32 crores.
Let us cite two examples extracted from CAG Report.
A. KIIT , an
infamous Institution for its land grabbing in Bhubaneswar encroached
land measuring 16.397 acres , valued Rs.12.30 crores and got it regularised by ICDO in connivance of its corrupt officials in two
phases ( 9.809 acre in April 2005 and
6.588 acre in July 2009 ), though it is not permissible under any law of the land.
B. KIIT, a
deemed University, applied ( April 2010 ) for additional land of 14
acres in Chandaka IR contiguous to the
land under its occupation, which were
under encroachment by some other people
and offered to get it vacated
from the said encroachers at its risk and cost, in case the said land
would be allotted to that
institute. The Land Allotment Committee (LAC) of IDCO agreed to the same and
decided (April 2010) to allot 14 acres of such encroached land to KIIT. An
in-principle allotment order was issued (October 2010) to KIIT with the
stipulation to formally allot the land after eviction of the encroachers. This
was despite the fact that, the BoD of IDCO in 65th meeting,
inter-alia, decided (April, 2004) not to entertain any further applications of
KIIT for regularisation of any encroachment in Chandaka area.
Since Mid-July 2014,
the concerned citizens and Social Activists of Odisha have been holding
dharana, demonstration and mass rally demanding CBI enquiry into land scam in
Odisha and also submitting memoranda
to different authorities
like Governor and Chief Minister of Odisha ( Copy of Memorandum is enclosed) .
Mass Media has covered series of news against KIIT and Sri Achyut Samant for
land acquired by him through fraudulent means. The State Govt.
constituted a task Force for enquiry into irregularities and illegalities in
allotment of land by different Govt. agencies in August 2014 but the illegal
allotment of land to KIIT by IDCO was
kept out from the purview of inquiry. As
Sri Samant exerts huge influence by
various nefarious methods over the gullible and corrupt bureaucracy, the land
allotment to him has not been enquired till date. A Writ petition has been filed in Odisha High
Court against Sri Achyut Samant and KIIT with a prayer for CBI inquiry into land scam of Sri Samant. (Copy of the media clipping is enclosed).
KIIT is also not complying with RTI Act and not disclosing any information to the
Information-seekers.
Sri Achyut Samant
through a mega image building exercise
is always on the lookout for inviting dignified personalities to his
Institution, simply to repair and make over his controversial profile and
thereby to divert attention of the people from his naked acts of
corruption. It is apprehended that Mr.
Samant by inviting President of India and other dignitaries wants to whitewash
his depreciated and questionable image.
As is well known, KIIT is a deemed university
which has been substantially financed in terms of land and funds
from different agencies of State
and Central Governments. As such, it is
a public authority under Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act, 2005. But the PIO of
KIIT refused to provide the information under RTI Act time and again.
Several Complaint cases against KIIT are
pending with State Information Commission for disposal.
Under the
circumstances, we have made request Hon’ble President of India and Chief Justice of India to enquire into the above mentioned crimes of fraud and corruption
exposed by a Constitutional Body like CAG before taking a decision as to respond to the invitation of Mr. Achyut Samant to
grace the occasion at KIIT or not.
It is needless to
mention here that we the Civil Society Groups will
oppose and organise demonstration and road blockade at the time of Visit of the Rastrapati and Chief Justice of India.
Regards
Srinibas Mohanty Khirod
Rout Prof. Jantrana Parikhit
Advocate, Odisha High Court
Advocate, Odisha High Court
Sudhir Mohanty Pradip
Pradhan Ashok Mallik
Advocate, Odisha High Court RTI
Activist President, NACDOR
Pratap Sahu Sachikant
Pradhan Arun Jena
Social Activist Social
Activist Social Activist
Abdul Walli Raju
Singh Menaka Kinnar
Social Activist Social
Activist, Cuttack Bhubaneswar
Bijay Parida Ashok Das Sanjay Sahu
Jana Adhikar Parishad Samajik Nyaya Andolan Social
Activist
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