The State government’s recent notification on transferring two acres of land belonging to the Veterinary Department in the heart of Bengaluru city on Mysore Road in Chamarajpet constituency to the Minority Welfare Department has triggered a controversy with the Opposition BJP describing this as “appeasement of minorities” and demanding its withdrawal.
The State government had on February 26 issued a notification stating that two acres of land on which a veterinary hospital has been located will be transferred to the Minorities Welfare Department for building Maulana Azad/Morarji Desai Residential School.
No cattle population
The notification says that the veterinary hospital would be shifted to another location as there is not much cattle population in the heart of the city where the hospital is presently located. However, there is a great demand for students’ hostels and residential schools for minorities as a sizeable number reside there, states the notification.
Taking exception to this, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly R. Ashok alleged that the government was gifting land valued over ₹500 crore to the minorities with an eye on their votes.
‘Stating that the BJP does not have any objection to giving some other vacant land for minority welfare, he questioned the logic behind giving the land on which a veterinary hospital is functioning. “The government says that there is not much cattle population in the area. But it is not just the cattle that this hospital caters to as a large number of owners of pet animals too are dependent on this hospital,” he argued.
‘Give Wakf land’
Instead of giving away the land of Veterinary Department, the government could think of choosing a land that has been with the Wakfs Department which has seen properties worth crores of rupees being encroached and illegally occupied, he suggested. He demanded that the government should immediately withdraw the notification and restore status quo.
