Drop move to ‘gift’ land for private varsity, Karnataka govt told

Addressing a joint presser with KPCC president DK Shivakumar on Wednesday, he said the Congress would seek legal remedies against the government’s decision. He termed the CESS an RSS organization that wants to re-establish the ‘varnashrama’ system in India.

“The BJP government hurriedly passed the Chanakya University bill by a voice note on the last day of the assembly session on Wednesday without any debate or discussion. The CESS does not have any prior experience of managing educational institutions or any infrastructure to start a university. The government should clarify on what criteria the land has been allocated to them,” Siddaramaiah said.

‘Throwaway rate’

The BJP government had in a cabinet meeting on April 26 this year decided to hand over 116 acres in Haraluru to CESS. The notified land was acquired by KIADB to establish Aerospace and Defence industries. KIADB had acquired the land at Rs 1.5 crore per acre for a total amount of Rs 175 crore. The same land was being given to CESS for just Rs 50 crore when the current market price is Rs 300-400 crore, Siddaramaiah alleged.

At a time when the second wave of Covid was at its peak and the government is starved of funds, the BS Yediyurappa government had gifted highly priced land to CESS at a cheap cost, he alleged..

The former CM said, “Even the Speaker was partial in his conduct while passing the Chanakya University bill and disallowed discussion on the bill. What was the need to pass the bill urgently? Was this related to a public emergency? This is a case of nepotism and I demand that the BJP government scrap the decision to hand over the land to CESS.”