Govt. creating hurdles in discharging my duties, alleges Ashok Gajapathi Raju

MANSAS Trust chairman opposes freezing of accounts of educational institutions

Accusing the YSRCP government of creating hurdles and preventing him from discharging his duties, former Union Minister and MANSAS Trust chairperson P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said that the State government should play the role of a facilitator for the trust established with an aim of promote education and charitable activities.

Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju was reinstated as the chairperson of the trust recently following a directive of Andhra Pradesh High Court.

He said that MANSAS Trust has cooperated with the successive governments by allocating precious land for establishment of educational institutions such as Government Polytechnic College of Vizianagaram.

He opposed the transfer of the MANSAS Trust employees to other places and transfer of funds from the public sector banks to private ones. “Only the correspondents appointed by the MANSAS Trust have to manage the educational institutions and funds of the trust. However, the executive officer of the Endowments Department is ignoring the bylaws of the trust. He has written a letter to Bank of India to freeze the accounts of MANSAS Educational Institutions. It is creating problem for me in discharging my duties,” alleged Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

He further said that the employees had become victims with the decisions taken by the Endowments Department that was supposed to only oversee land of the trust.

“Salaries of hundreds employees of 12 educational institutions including MR College, MVGR College of Engineering, and MR.V.R.G.R Law College are delayed. At least now, the government can extend its cooperation to the trust to ensure the smooth maintenance of the institutions,” said Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

Temple land

Referring to issue on the sale of Simhachalam temple land, he said it was done in a transparent way, in association with the erstwhile Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority.

“The objective of the allocation of land to temples is to generate income for their maintenance and development. The bylaws of the trust allow to do so. That is why, we could provide many facilities including solar power equipment and construction of new structures in accordance to the Master Plan laid for the temple. There is no need to object such moves undertaken in the larger interests of the temples and educational institutions. The allocation of lands to the government buildings and educational institutions has also been done previously. Usage of land with a good aim should be welcomed,” he said.