Rent defaulters benefit from Kerala's largesse

Thiruvananthapuram: On the eve of the elections, it is not surprising that the Oommen Chandy government is keen to please all communities.

The lease period of over two acres of prime land, priced at over Rs 15 lakh a cent in the open market, in the possession of the three major community groups in the heart of the capital city, has been extended by 30 years. It did not matter that all three had long stopped paying their annual rents. It also did not matter that the revenue department had earlier issued orders to take over the lands in question. Their lease arrears, too, have been virtually written off.

The lands for which the lease period has been extended are: 27 cents with Muslim Association in Vanchiyoor, the 1.1 acres upon which the NSS-run Mannam Memorial National Club operates, and 78 cents near Secretariat where the YMCA building stands. The custodians of these lands were not paying their annual lease rent but the orders have virtually exonerated them for their wilful default. All the three orders state that the custodians need to be charged only 0.2 percent of their lease arrears.

The National Club and Muslim Association Hall lands have been categorised as 'public purpose' land. The highest rent collected from such lands is Rs 300 annually for the entire parcel of the land. As for the YMCA land, it has been leased out for 'commercial purpose'. Such lands are charged higher, but in a relative sense; Rs 200- Rs 300 a cent.

“The annual rent is so meagre that even a BPL family will happily pay up. Now the latest order states that they have to pay up only 0.2 percent of the total arrears they have accumulated," a top revenue official said.

In all the three cases, the only reason given for the extension of lease period is that these lands have been in the possession of these groups for a long time.