Saswat Panigrahi
The recent Lok Pal report highlighting gross irregularities committed to favour the Vedanta Group with regard to its ‘world-class’ university project is a strong indictment of the BJD Government in Odisha. It’s time Naveen Patnaik comes clean on the issue
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is in trouble again. This time for the biggest land grab scam in independent India. As much as 6,000 acre of three-crop agricultural land has been allotted by the State Government to the London-based Vedanta foundation, purportedly for establishing a ‘world-class’ university on the Puri-Konark marine drive. The recent order of Odisha Lok Pal Justice PK Patra in response to a petition filed by trade union leader Dwarika Mohan Misra is a strong indictment of the functioning of the State Government. As brought out by the findings of the Lok Pal, the whole idea of Vedanta university was conceived in the Chief Minister’s office.
Mr BK Patnaik, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, had initiated a file relating to the establishment of Vedanta university by putting up a note which was signed by the Special Secretary of Finance, the Agriculture Production Commissioner, the Minister for Higher Education, the Minister of Finance and the Chief Minister on July 13, 2006. Just six days after the initiation of the file, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on July 19, 2006, between the Odisha Government and the Vedanta foundation for the establishment of a ‘multi-disciplinary’ university.
“The MoU in question signed by the parties does not constitute a legally enforceable contract. It appears from the records that the officials of the Government of Odisha had acted in haste to accede to the request of the foundation,” says the Lok Pal in his 26-page order.
The Lok Pal’s findings clearly indicate that 6,000 acre of agricultural land — which includes 1,300 acre of arable land belonging to the Jagannath Temple that farmers linked to the seva of the temple cultivate, and another large stretch of land containing huge quantities of thorium and other rare minerals — is in the process of being acquired by Vedanta Foundation. This violates the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1954, the Lok Pal observes.
There is also a huge chasm between the land required and the land grabbed. The Lok Pal agrees that such a vast track of land would not be required for the establishment of the proposed university, as even world-class universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard are built on lesser land space. This clearly points to an ulterior motive behind the acquisition.
The project will affect at least 50,000 people across 22 maujas (villages) of Puri district who depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. Also, the land in question comes under the Costal Regulation Zone and is situated adjacent to the sweet-water zone of Puri district which stands to be adversely affected if the project is operationalised.
It is interesting to note that following the proposal for Vedanta university, the foundation has changed its name thrice. It was originally named Sterlite Foundation but later changed to Vedanta Foundation and then again to Anil Agarwal Foundation. It has been further revealed that Anil Agarwal Foundation is not a public company but a company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
The State Law Department clearly stated that the acquisition of land for Vedanta university would require the change of status of the foundation from ‘private company’ to ‘public company’, and only then would it meet the qualification prescribed by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. “But the views of the Law Department appear to have been misread by the public servants concerned,” the Lok Pal says.
The foundation submitted erroneous documents with regard to the change of its legal status from private to public, and thus, cleverly hoodwinked the core committee comprising senior bureaucrats of the State and influenced them to believe that the Section 25 company had been converted to a ‘public company’. Following this, the core committee rendered all assistance to the foundation even without complying with the statutory requirements.
“From the materials available on record it is clear that the representative of Anil Agarwal Foundation was able to manoeuvre or influence, mislead and misguide senior bureaucrats of the State who had acted without application of mind,” the Lok Pal judgement says, adding, “Steps had been taken in extending the helping hand in haste to Anil Agarwal Foundation in various ways.”
Citing the Supreme Court verdict that says imparting education is essentially charitable in nature and educational institutions should not be established with the motive of earning profits, the Lok Pal has raised a cloud of doubt on the motive of Anil Agarwal Foundation in establishing the proposed international university. The foundation has so far not defined an international university, further putting a question mark on its intention.
The Lok Pal has made a series of recommendations to the Odisha Government on the university project. It has recommended that the Chief Minister consider a moratorium on the project until compliance with the legal provisions for conversion of Anil Agarwal Foundation from a private to public company was met.
It has also asked the State Government to constitute a vigilance cell to monitor the progress of the project and to see to it that the land acquired and delivered to the foundation is done so in phases and not utilised for purposes other than education. Besides, it has directed the State Government to ensure payment of adequate compensation by the foundation to those affected by the project.
Meanwhile, the Lok Pal order has triggered strong reactions from the Opposition. The BJP has rightly raised the issue in the national domain. The party has also demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister on moral grounds.
Shamed by the Lok Pal order and worried over its political ramifications, the Odisha Government has come out with a Press release which says that the media cannot publish the Lok Pal judgement as it has not been tabled in the Odisha Assembly — a logic strongly contested by the BJP which says that it is not the proceeding but the findings which the media should be able to report. The State Government has also written to the Lok Pal’s office, urging the latter to restrain the publication of the report.
-- Appeared in the OpEd page of The Pioneer on April 22
The recent Lok Pal report highlighting gross irregularities committed to favour the Vedanta Group with regard to its ‘world-class’ university project is a strong indictment of the BJD Government in Odisha. It’s time Naveen Patnaik comes clean on the issue
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is in trouble again. This time for the biggest land grab scam in independent India. As much as 6,000 acre of three-crop agricultural land has been allotted by the State Government to the London-based Vedanta foundation, purportedly for establishing a ‘world-class’ university on the Puri-Konark marine drive. The recent order of Odisha Lok Pal Justice PK Patra in response to a petition filed by trade union leader Dwarika Mohan Misra is a strong indictment of the functioning of the State Government. As brought out by the findings of the Lok Pal, the whole idea of Vedanta university was conceived in the Chief Minister’s office.
Mr BK Patnaik, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, had initiated a file relating to the establishment of Vedanta university by putting up a note which was signed by the Special Secretary of Finance, the Agriculture Production Commissioner, the Minister for Higher Education, the Minister of Finance and the Chief Minister on July 13, 2006. Just six days after the initiation of the file, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on July 19, 2006, between the Odisha Government and the Vedanta foundation for the establishment of a ‘multi-disciplinary’ university.
“The MoU in question signed by the parties does not constitute a legally enforceable contract. It appears from the records that the officials of the Government of Odisha had acted in haste to accede to the request of the foundation,” says the Lok Pal in his 26-page order.
The Lok Pal’s findings clearly indicate that 6,000 acre of agricultural land — which includes 1,300 acre of arable land belonging to the Jagannath Temple that farmers linked to the seva of the temple cultivate, and another large stretch of land containing huge quantities of thorium and other rare minerals — is in the process of being acquired by Vedanta Foundation. This violates the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1954, the Lok Pal observes.
There is also a huge chasm between the land required and the land grabbed. The Lok Pal agrees that such a vast track of land would not be required for the establishment of the proposed university, as even world-class universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard are built on lesser land space. This clearly points to an ulterior motive behind the acquisition.
The project will affect at least 50,000 people across 22 maujas (villages) of Puri district who depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. Also, the land in question comes under the Costal Regulation Zone and is situated adjacent to the sweet-water zone of Puri district which stands to be adversely affected if the project is operationalised.
It is interesting to note that following the proposal for Vedanta university, the foundation has changed its name thrice. It was originally named Sterlite Foundation but later changed to Vedanta Foundation and then again to Anil Agarwal Foundation. It has been further revealed that Anil Agarwal Foundation is not a public company but a company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
The State Law Department clearly stated that the acquisition of land for Vedanta university would require the change of status of the foundation from ‘private company’ to ‘public company’, and only then would it meet the qualification prescribed by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. “But the views of the Law Department appear to have been misread by the public servants concerned,” the Lok Pal says.
The foundation submitted erroneous documents with regard to the change of its legal status from private to public, and thus, cleverly hoodwinked the core committee comprising senior bureaucrats of the State and influenced them to believe that the Section 25 company had been converted to a ‘public company’. Following this, the core committee rendered all assistance to the foundation even without complying with the statutory requirements.
“From the materials available on record it is clear that the representative of Anil Agarwal Foundation was able to manoeuvre or influence, mislead and misguide senior bureaucrats of the State who had acted without application of mind,” the Lok Pal judgement says, adding, “Steps had been taken in extending the helping hand in haste to Anil Agarwal Foundation in various ways.”
Citing the Supreme Court verdict that says imparting education is essentially charitable in nature and educational institutions should not be established with the motive of earning profits, the Lok Pal has raised a cloud of doubt on the motive of Anil Agarwal Foundation in establishing the proposed international university. The foundation has so far not defined an international university, further putting a question mark on its intention.
The Lok Pal has made a series of recommendations to the Odisha Government on the university project. It has recommended that the Chief Minister consider a moratorium on the project until compliance with the legal provisions for conversion of Anil Agarwal Foundation from a private to public company was met.
It has also asked the State Government to constitute a vigilance cell to monitor the progress of the project and to see to it that the land acquired and delivered to the foundation is done so in phases and not utilised for purposes other than education. Besides, it has directed the State Government to ensure payment of adequate compensation by the foundation to those affected by the project.
Meanwhile, the Lok Pal order has triggered strong reactions from the Opposition. The BJP has rightly raised the issue in the national domain. The party has also demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister on moral grounds.
Shamed by the Lok Pal order and worried over its political ramifications, the Odisha Government has come out with a Press release which says that the media cannot publish the Lok Pal judgement as it has not been tabled in the Odisha Assembly — a logic strongly contested by the BJP which says that it is not the proceeding but the findings which the media should be able to report. The State Government has also written to the Lok Pal’s office, urging the latter to restrain the publication of the report.
-- Appeared in the OpEd page of The Pioneer on April 22
