Youth Congress leader asks Maharaja Sayajirao University to take legal action over Padra land

The Times of India: Vadodara: Wednesday, June 27, 2012.

Former senate member of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and Youth Congress leader Rutvij Joshi on Tuesday demanded that the university should act to ensure that it gets a plot of land donated to it in Padra. It was only recently that the university came to know about the land that was donated to it way back in 1987, but it transpired that a part of the land had been encroached upon.

The university has been embroiled in a major controversy over the land at Padra located near the city. It is drawing flak for not knowing for nearly 25 years that a plot of land had been donated to it. The issue came to light only when a youth from Padra filed RTI applications to get the details of two plots that were allegedly encroached by a builder. It transpired that one of these plots was donated to the university and houses had been constructed on it.

Joshi said that the university's claim on the land had been compromised by manipulating entries in the land records at Padra. Joshi has stated that the university should take legal action immediately to ensure that the university got its land back and action was taken against the revenue officials responsible for the dubious entries.