Govt. takes over properties illegally occupied by YMCA

Move follows a government order issued on July 14; office of special tahsildar shifted to building

Time is up: The board of the YMCA being removed on Friday after the government takeover of 84 cents of land and a building at Chinnakkada in Kollam.

District Collector B. Abdul Nasar on Friday took over 84 cents of land and a building that was illegally occupied by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) at Chinnakkada, the city centre of Kollam.

The office of the Special Tahsildar LA (NH), that had been functioning in a rented building at Kavanad, was shifted to the building.

The decades-long legal proceedings came to an end with the takeover following a government order issued on July 14.

The land was allotted to the YMCA as per the ‘Kuthakappattam Rules, 1947’ that was repealed with the enactment of the Kerala Land Assignment Act, 1960. As per the Act, the lessee must submit an application to renew the contract, but the YMCA failed to file any application despite repeated requests from the District Collector and the Tahsildar.

According to the Revenue officials, the YMCA has not renewed the lease or paid the arrears and they have been using the land for commercial purpose.

The lease was cancelled as per Rule 17 of Rules for Assignment of Land within Municipal and Corporation Areas, 1995, and a notice was issued in 2007.

Though the Kollam Collector had cancelled the lease after observing all the legal formalities, the YMCA submitted a revision petition before the government and filed a case at High Court challenging the order. The court had directed the government to take a decision on the revision petition and hearings were held.

After the hearings it was observed that the lease can be considered cancelled with the enactment of the new rules in 1995 and the possession of government land by the YMCA is illegal.

The action taken by the authorities against the illegal possession was considered lawful as all steps were taken as per the KLC Act.

The government order to take over the land was issued after rejecting the revision petition submitted by the YMCA. The order also points out that many government offices are functioning in private buildings in Kollam city and it would be a great relief for the government to move these offices to the YMCA-owned buildings.