New Delhi, Aug 30 (NVI) A false and misleading claim is being made and peddled by Pakistani social media handles that the Ladakh Administration has cancelled for “political reasons” the allotment of a plot of land to Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) run by environment activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Officials point out that the allotment of the land was scrapped as per the norms since the HIAL failed to meet the key legal terms and conditions.
The land, measuring 1,000 kanals, was allotted in the year 2018 to the HIAL for building a university but even after passage of 7 years, no university came up.
Those running HIAL were supposed to comply with terms and conditions of the lease within one year of the allotment, despite which they applied for the University Status of the institute in 2022, which is 4 years after the allotment, the officials said.
Wangchuk didn’t even pay the premium of Rs 14 crore for the allotment and neither signed the lease.
He had requested for a waiver of the premium, which was not accepted by the Leh Autonomous Hill District Council (LAHDC), the officials said, adding still the premium was not paid.
Significantly, Wangchuk had always been writing directly to DC, bypassing the LAHDC and thus undermining it.
Since the terms and conditions were not met in 7 years, Leh District Commissioner Romil Singh Donk cancelled the allotment.
This cancellation of the allotment was done as per the norms related to leasing of public land, i.e., if the allotted piece of land is not used for the purpose it was given by the State, it means violation of the terms and the real estate is to be reverted to the State.
