Govt assigns prime Kaloor land to St Albert’s College on Election Day

Kochi: In a controversial move, the LDF govt's revenue department issued an order on March 15—the very day state assembly elections were announced—directing the Ernakulam district collector to assign 88 cents of prime land near Kaloor International Stadium, an area where land value is very high, to St Albert's College. The order also waives around Rs 1.81 crore in rental dues owed by the college to the govt for leasing the same land until 2004. Critics have been quick to label the timing as politically motivated, alleging that the govt is attempting to court the Christian college management ahead of the elections. This is not the first time the land allocation has been attempted. The UDF govt under Oommen Chandy issued a similar order in 2016, just before that year's elections. When the LDF came to power in 2017, it appointed a cabinet subcommittee specifically to examine the matter. The subcommittee concluded unequivocally that assigning the land to the college would cause significant financial loss to the govt and recommended against it. The current LDF govt's reversal of that position has drawn sharp criticism. Activist KT Cheshire, who has been legally challenging the land assignment for years, called it a clear case of corruption. "The LDF govt's move is to appease the community and secure their votes. The land is estimated to be worth between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 50 lakh per cent. Following a similar move by the Oommen Chandy govt, I approached the High Court, which ruled in 2023 that the government must act in accordance with law and policy," he said. Cheshire further pointed out that assigning leased government land to any individual institution violates established norms. "As per rules, lease land cannot be assigned to anybody, nor can land be assigned to a specific college or community. To make matters worse, a vigilance probe is still pending on a complaint I had filed against the Oommen Chandy government's earlier attempt," he added. According to the college management, there is nothing extraordinary in the decision to assign land to the college. "Earlier, a similar order was issued by the govt in 2016. Later, the LDF govt kept it pending, citing technical issues," said Fr Antony Thoppil, manager, St Albert's College. When the land was acquired for Metro rail in 2013, around 88 cents from the land leased out to the college was taken over by the govt. The college authorities demanded the govt allot 88 cents in lieu of the land taken over from the holdings in their possession. Then, the UDF govt in 2016 ordered the allocation of 88 cents of land by taking over 74 cents from the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and 14 cents from a private individual occupying adjacent government land. Once the land is transferred, Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium will no longer have adequate parking space to meet the standards required for hosting international football matches, Cheshire said. Revenue minister K Rajan, GCDA chairman K Chandran Pillai and revenue secretary MG Rajamanickyam were all unavailable for comment when contacted.