Oppn demands fresh survey of CPM state committee office land

Thiruvananthapuram, July 25 (UNI) The Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala today urged the state government to conduct a fresh survey of the land possessed by the AKG Centre that houses the CPI(M) state committee office.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy told the Assembly that it was the Antony Government, in which he was also a member, that allotted 34.408 cents of land in 1977 to set up a memorial for Communist leader A K Gopalan, popularly known as AKG. Another 15 cents of land was allotted by the University of Kerala.

However, the AKG Centre was presently ''illegally holding'' surplus land. A re-survey should be conducted to assess the actual position, Mr Chandy alleged.

Similarly, the AKG Memorial Trust had violated the conditions under which land was assigned to it. As per the government order, the plot should be used only for the purpose of constructing a suitable memorial for AKG comprising a research centre, a library and a conference hall. But, the CPI(M) state committee office was functioning in the same building which is the violation of the guidelines, he charged.

Replying to a submission by Mr Joseph M Puthusseri of Kerala Congress (M) on the same subject, Revenue Minister K P Rajendran said the party office was functioning in the complex within the stipulations under which the land was allotted to it. Similarly, there was no encroachment of land by the AKG Centre.

Referring to the charges that there was a shortage of land in the adjoining Kerala University campus as per the r-esurvey, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the boundary wall was constructed by the University and there was no encroachment by the AKG Centre side.

UNI