20 Pune charitable institutes in possession of state land under scanner for lease violations
Currently, there are 346 institutions in the district, which were allotted 1,574 acres of land on lease
The district administration has started a probe to check if the land allocated to various charitable institutions for educational, social, cultural and health purposes is being utilised appropriately.
As many as 20 institutions have violated the terms and conditions, and a report has been sent to the state government on June 14. Action would be taken against such violators by either taking the land back or imposing heavy fines, officials dealing with the matter said.
Currently, there are 346 institutions in the district, which were allotted 1,574 acres of land on lease.
Officials said the violations are mainly related to non-renewal of the lease and not using it for the intended purpose, not initiating any construction within two years or leasing the property to another person without intimating the district collector.
“The violations are mainly due to non-renewal of lease and not using the land for the intended purpose. These cases are more than four to five decades old and appropriate action is being taken by us. An action report taken against such violators has been sent to the state government,” said Rajesh Deshmukh, Pune district collector.
Earlier, the district collector had the authority to issue notices and seek written explanations from such institutions after conducting a panchnama. But now all the rights have been withdrawn and centralised with the state government.
Deshmukh said, “We are taking action as per norms and directions of the government.”
The lands have been given by the state government through the district collector’s office based on the right to possession or rental basis at nominal rates. It is the responsibility of the regional officers to ensure that the terms and conditions are not violated.
The revenue division in its separate order had even asked the officers to look into cases of violations independently, prepare a report and submit it to the government.
Since 1960, some of the grazing land has been handed over to some institutions for educational and other social purposes. There are at least 111 land parcels which have been given for educational purposes and several educational institutions are benefiting from these allocations.
According to the district administration, the land parcels were leased out to the institutions on various conditions and for different periods.
