The rent mafia threatens the very existence of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) by depriving it of its main source of revenue, said C.N. Mohanan, the outgoing Chairman of the authority.
Addressing his farewell press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Mohanan came down heavily on a section of shop owners who were allegedly attempting to sabotage the revised rent structure at the GCDA’s shopping complexes enforced since July.
“A section of shop owners is refusing to pay the revised rent and had secured a stay from court on the revision. The rent was revised after taking into account the rent structure followed by the corporation, government bodies, and private parties. The revision was effected after holding three rounds of consultation with shop owners individually and collectively,” he said.
Mr. Mohanan lamented that while private parties were permitted to hike rent, a government body like the GCDA, dependent on rent for payment of salary and retirement benefits to its staff, was being stopped from enhancing rent. Only the rent for shops fixed at an improbable rate of ₹2 and ₹3 per square feet had been increased to the range of ₹20 to ₹30.
He recounted how a tenant who had taken a shop at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium for ₹5,000 a month had sublet it for ₹60,000. Worse still, she had run up dues worth ₹1.25 lakh, even though she could have easily cleared it from the income she earned in two months through subletting.
Mr. Mohanan cited pending dues worth ₹21.75 crore towards contractors who taken up various projects at the international stadium, thus ensuring that Kerala was able to host the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, and PF benefits to retired GCDA staff as his biggest disappointment as he stepped down as Chairman. The bills were not cleared at the government treasury citing financial constraints.
“The matter was eventually taken up with the Chief Minister who directed officials to clear the dues at the earliest,” he said.
On the progress of inquiry into corruption allegations against the previous governing committee, Mr. Mohanan said a vigilance inquiry was under way, while the police were also inquiring into the loss of valuables from the Chairman’s guesthouse when he had assumed charge.
