Kottayam (Keralam), Oct 24 CPI(M) leader and former Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac on Saturday challenged the findings of a panel headed by retired IAS officer Sudha Pillai on alleged land acquisition irregularities, saying the process in Kannur began under the previous UDF government.
The committee, appointed by the UDF government to review the functioning of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), flagged alleged financial irregularities and procedural lapses in land acquisition for industrial infrastructure projects.
It questioned the approval of a proposal to acquire 5,366 acres in Kannur and Palakkad at an estimated cost of Rs 12,727 crore, citing, among other issues, the absence of a detailed project report when the KIIFB board approved it in October 2018.
Speaking to reporters, Isaac asked whether the committee had examined the government orders relating to the land acquisition before questioning the prices paid during the LDF regime.
“The decision to acquire the land, for which it is now alleged that an ineligible price was paid, was taken during the Oommen Chandy government’s tenure,” he said.
Isaac said the committee’s most serious criticism of KIIFB’s functioning concerned land acquisition, particularly in Kannur district.
Referring to allegations of corruption in the acquisition of around 1,000 acres, he said the state government had already submitted 450 acres to the Centre for the proposed Smart City project.
“Before making such declarations, shouldn’t the government order be examined?” he asked, questioning the committee’s findings.
Isaac said the government order for the acquisition was issued in June 2016, less than three months after the LDF government assumed office, when he was the Finance Minister. However, he said the process had begun much earlier.
In a Facebook post earlier in the day, Isaac said the Revenue Department had issued an order in September 2015, while the State Level Monitoring Committee had decided to acquire the land on March 2, 2016, based on a letter from the district collector in January that year.
The order issued on June 6, 2016, covered 20,200 ares, equivalent to 499.15 acres, in Anjarakandy, Keezhallur and Paduvilayi villages, he said.
Isaac said the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) had sought permission on April 12, 2013, to acquire around 525 acres in the three villages for a public-private partnership project.
The government subsequently directed the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) to acquire the land through a letter issued in December 2013, he said.
He maintained that KINFRA, not KIIFB, was responsible for acquiring the land and that the decision originated during the previous UDF government’s tenure. The district collector was responsible for determining the land value, he added.
Isaac also said the collector had proposed a reduction in the land valuation, following which some landowners approached the High Court and an expert committee was appointed to determine the price.
(PTI News)
