Gunupur: The authorities of Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology (GIET) here in Rayagada district have allegedly grabbed acres of land to set up the institute if the preliminary information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) Act is any indication.
On the other hand, furnishing of incomplete data by the tehsil even four months after filing of an RTI application only points towards irregularities committed in granting of land to GIET.
According to reports, Madhab Bitika, an RTI activist, August 18 last year had sought information about the land under the possession of GIET and Gandhi Public School in Gunupur.
Bitika wanted to know the size and owner of the land, its classification, how much land was leased out to GIET and for how many years, how much land has been encroached upon by the institute, how much land the GIET authorities had purchased from SC/ST persons and their khata and plot numbers and whether the buyer took required permission before buying those lands.
Responding to the query in its letter no 4214/2017 dated December 18, 2017, the tehsil furnished some information which was found incomplete.
The concerned tehsil official said the remaining data would be given later. The officials cited reasons like engagement in other important government works and some files being reviewed by the sub-collector for the incomplete information.
According to the information received from the tehsil, Dr Chandradhwaj Panda, the vice-president of the institute holds 250 decimal and 25 cent land (khata no-15/560) under Gobariguda mouza. Similarly, 12 acre of land under khata no-15/452 is in possession of chairman Satya Prakash Panda. Thus, the total amount of land owned by both the chairman and vice-president works out to nearly 13 acre.
But surprisingly, an annual calendar published in September last revealed that the infrastructure of the institute is located on a patch of 63 acre of which 20 acre is being utilised for flower garden.
Even as GIET-Gunupur was set up in 1997, failure of the tehsil office to provide complete details of the land under GIET’s possession raised several eyebrows.
If the tehsil took four months to give details of only 13 acre of land, how long it would take to get the information on remaining 50 acre of land, questioned locals who also demanded a probe into the land deals. PNN
