The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to take back the land of the Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan’s Mohammad Ali Jauhar University as he was charged with failing to uphold the lease’s conditions. The decision was approved by the cabinet on 31 October. Now, the site is ready to be handed over to the village society at a very low cost in order to establish an industry.
Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna informed, “The decision was taken due to violations of the conditions of the lease agreement. After reviewing the report submitted by a four-member inquiry committee formed by the Rampur DM, the government has decided to reclaim the land and building. The ownership of this 41,181 sqft land will be transferred back to the Secondary Education Department by the state government.”
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Rampur stated that the matter dates back to 1990 when there used to be a Government Murtaza School with 4,000 students near the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) office in the area. The former parliamentarian from the region vacated the school and transferred the entire property to the Jauhar Trust in violation of the law. He transferred the land’s license to his private Rampur Public School following the Samajwadi Party’s return to power.
The administration of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath viewed it as a fraud. The BJP lawmaker questioned how the SP leader was granted land valued at Rs 100 crore for an annual lease of merely Rs 100. Furthermore, he pointed out that the previous government adversely affected the prospects and jeopardised the future of 4,000 children by disregarding the rules. The process of recovering the land and building from the Jauhar Trust has now been initiated by the Department of Secondary Education.
The site has been turned over to the local society and there are plans to establish industries there. The action taken by the government is regarded as a serious setback for the Samajwadi Party veteran who is presently in jail. Akash Saxena has assured that no child’s education or career would be affected. The action has been taken in response to his complaint.
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party supremo has slammed the state government for its move. Akhilesh Yadav claimed that Azam Khan is a target of harassment from the current regime because he is a Muslim. He addressed the latter with honorifics such as honourable and sir as well as labelled the measures undertaken by the Bharatiya Janta Party government as wrong traditions.
The trust was granted approximately 41,181 square feet of land by the former Samajwadi Party government via two decrees issued in September 2006 and February 2007. It received a 30-year tenancy on the State Education Department’s land in exchange for an annual rent payment of Rs 100.