Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday said the State government would review the largesse of the previous BJP government in allotment of land to various organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated outfits, in Karnataka.
Mr. Gowda said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had instructed the department to review the allotment of land during the last six months of the Basavaraj Bommai-led government. All land sanctioned in a hurry during the last six months (since December 2022) would be reviewed and the matter placed before the Cabinet for a final decision, he said.
To ensure justice to all
Government land should be made available to eligible people and organisations. Land sanctioned in the name of organisations and later grabbed by some private individuals would be taken back. “Our intention is to ensure justice to all. Land allotted during the last six months to organisations irrespective of caste and religion will be reviewed. We will not trouble the organisations that received land for the genuine purposes,” Mr. Gowda told reporters.
In a separate press meet, Mr. Rao claimed that hundreds of acres of government land in the State had been transferred in the name of the RSS and Sangh Parivar-affiliated organisations. The purpose behind such allotment to organisations would be studied, he said.
No secrecy
“Allotment of land should not happen in secret. One should inform the public. So we have to take steps to review the allotment of land,” Mr. Rao said.
The Bommai-government had allotted land for Rashtrotthana for education and related activities. It had sanctioned land for Janaseva Trust, Kodava Samaj, and several other organisations in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka.