UP cabinet clears proposal to take back land allotted to Azam Khan’s trust

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 1 (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on October 31 cleared a proposal to take back the building and land of Murtaza Higher Secondary School leased by the secondary education department to Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan’s Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust in Rampur by the then SP government in 2007.

“The ownership of the 41,181 square feet of land will be transferred back to the secondary education department by the state government. The cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, gave its approval to the proposal,” said UP cabinet minister Suresh Khanna at the cabinet briefing soon after the meeting.

The Yogi government took action against the Jauhar Trust for violating the conditions of the lease agreement. “It is noteworthy that the land had been leased out to the Trust for 30 years,” according to a government press release.

Giving information about the decisions of the cabinet, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said the land was given on lease for 30 years at the rate of only Rs 100 per year. He added that the government had now decided to reclaim the land from the Trust.

In connection with the violation of the terms of the lease deed related to the land, the district magistrate of Rampur formed a four-member inquiry committee.

After reviewing the report sent by the committee following an investigation, the government decided to reclaim the land and building, the government statement said.

It further said during the SP regime in 2007, the offices of the district inspector of schools and the basic education officer in Rampur, situated within Murtaza Higher Secondary School, were leased to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a bid to enhance foreign investment in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government approved the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, which offers several incentives, said the officials.

These incentives encompass exemptions in land acquisition, stamp duty, and capital investment.

Finance Minister Suresh Khanna highlighted the relatively low foreign investment in Uttar Pradesh through FDI, amounting to just Rs 9,435 crore, considerably less than other states. As a response to this, the FDI policy has been introduced to attract more FDI.

The Yogi cabinet has decided to extend UP 112 for the next three years. The Finance Minister said that the main focus of the government is on the advancement of the state-level Emergency Response System (ERSS) UP 112. Since assuming office in 2017, there have been significant improvements in this system.