Moily's family-run trust accused of encroaching on govt land

BJP Yuva Morcha State president V Sunil Kumar has alleged that a college of Kissan Sabha Trust, run by members of Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily’s family, was collecting donations from students and has also encroached upon a piece of government land in Karkala in Udupi district.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Kumar, along with BJP legislator Ashwathnarayan, said the Trust got land in Kukkundur village of Karkala in 1991-92 and again in 1995-96 when Moily was a minister in the State government. The total extent of land is 4.90 acres. Records show that in violation of norms, gomala land was allotted to the Trust, he added.

Sunil Kumar, former MLA, will contest from Karkala as the BJP candidate in the coming elections.

Donations

A section of the media on Monday had published reports highlighting how the Trust run by Moily family had ‘raised’ crores of rupees in donations from ITC and Reliance under the corporate social responsibility projects.

The decade-old Trust has educational institutions in Karkala and Chikkaballapur. Moily, a former MLA from Karkala, is now MP from Chikkaballapur.

The Trust runs Mahatma Gandhi Residential School in Karkala. There are 115 students in DEd course and 50 per cent of the total seats are filled under the management quota. The fee collected from the students is Rs 25,000 a year.
 “The Trust, besides collecting fees, is also raising donations from various sources and, this is wrong,” Kumar alleged.

The Trust has not paid any tax to the Kukkundur gram panchayat for the past 13 years. Besides, the Trust has half-an-acre land in the Karkala municipality area.
Resignation sought

It has also encroached upon a quarter acre of the government land. A hall with a seating capacity of 300 has been constructed. This hall is used only for Congress-related programmes and others are barred from using it, Kumar alleged.

On Monday, Moily had announced in Mangalore that corrupt people would not get Congress tickets to contest polls.

“Now, Moily should set an example for others in his party. As he is facing corruption charges, he should not only resign as minister but also as MP,” Kumar remarked.
Asked why he was raising the issue now, the BJP leader said that he was unaware of the activities of the Trust till Tuesday morning.

“I learnt through the media that the Trust is raising money from corporate bodies.” Many Congress leaders remained incommunicado when Deccan Herald tried to get their reactions to the allegations against Moily.