There is every possibility of the proposed National Sports University may be shifted from Yaithibi Khunou of Thoubal district to Koutruk of Imphal West under Lamsang police station.
There have been allegations and many supportive documents that the state government top legislatures had acquired the land through dubious means. The landowners of Yaithibi Khunou had decried that their land which is still not sold to the state government has been ‘acquired’ by the sports department and later handed over to the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry.
The said land has also been deemed encumbrance free. Whereas, it may be noted that more than 200 land owners have filed litigation and the case is still pending at Court.
Moreover, 336 acres of land has been said to be acquired by the government when the needed land was 200 acres only for building the sports university.
The only response of the Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and chief secretary O Nabakishore is that more land has been given then needed and some areas are only left under litigation. They had said that the case pending at Court will be disposed off in the favour of the state government.
It was mentioned in a letter notified by the chief secretary in his D.O. Letter no. 21/1/2014/YAS/S(Pt-I), dated 21/06/2016, mentioned that the State Government has handed over an area of 336.93 acres of land at 44 Yaithibi Khunou village, Thoubal District, Manipur, 273.16 acres by direct purchase from 218 willing pattadars and 63.77 acres of state khas land , for which a non-encumbrance certificate issued by A. Subol Singh, sub registrar, Thoubal through its Memo No. 1/SR/TBL/NEC/09, dated 24/08/2015.
The handing over and taking over of this 336.93 acres of land within 44 Yaithibi Khunou took place between parties represented by W. Bhaktaraj Singh, director, Youth Affairs and Sports (YAS), Government of Manipur and Sunil Garg, Deputy Secretary (Sports), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India .
There was clear mathematical clerical error of 30 acres in the figures also as reported by IFP earlier. The Government of Manipur has clearly manipulated facts and figures in this deal, the facts of which are self explanatory from the documents available with this reporter.
Considering the facts and figures mentioned above, the concerned non-encumbrance certificate (NEC) submitted herein is false and has been issued with a mala-fide intention to cheat the affected people as well as the Government of India.
The Sub-Registrar claims that the disputed land has been procured by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of Manipur from 218 willing pattadars of 44 Yaithibi Khunou village by way of direct purchase when 34 acres of land within the same have been under litigation and pending disposal before the Court. 44 Yaithibi Khunou village is not completely encumbrance free and so cannot be legally transacted. As the two claims are contradictory, the question arises as to the validity of the NEC issued by the Sub Registrar.
Today, joint secretary of Youth Affairs and Sports, Rajbir Singh went to inspect the site for the Sports University and was met with a huge resistance from the irate villagers. However, Rajbir Singh had listened to the complaints raised by the villagers of Yaithibi Khunou. They had appraised him that the land was entirely the property of the government and there is much agricultural land and homesteads which would be destroyed without consent.
Rajbir had mentioned to the villagers that the Thoubal DC had wrongly informed him that the land acquisition was over and he had come to visit. He had assured the villagers that the Centre will not do anything forcibly and that there is no need to worry.
He further had stated that he will meet the Chief Minister and talk about the issues raised. The joint secretary later went to Koutruk in Imphal West where there is a proposed site for the sports university which is free from agricultural land destruction.
Source: Imphal Free Press
