Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to recommend a Vigilance probe into the alleged lapses in land acquisition in Kannur district funded through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), The Hindu reported. The decision escalates the KIIFB controversy that had rocked the state Assembly earlier the same day, when Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan attacked the previous Left government over the board's finances.

Source: The Hindu via Tech Word News

The Cabinet decision follows the findings of an expert committee headed by former bureaucrat Sudha Pillai, which reviewed KIIFB's operations and found that the land acquisition was rigged, according to the report. The panel questioned KIIFB's decision to acquire land in Kannur and Palakkad districts, with 1,000 acres acquired in Kannur alone.

52.9%Kannur share of KIIFB's total approved land-acquisition outlay
74.7%Kannur share of industrial-development land acquisition
1,000 acresLand acquired in Kannur under KIIFB
Rs 12,257.50 croreApproved Kannur industrial land-acquisition outlay in the committee report

What the committee found

According to the committee's report, tabled in the Assembly on October 15, Kannur alone accounted for 52.9% of the total approved expenditure on land acquisition under KIIFB and 74.7% of the acquisition for industrial development — a concentration the panel singled out in its review of the board's functioning. According to the Chief Minister's office, the Vigilance investigation will be conducted with the help of the finance and tax departments.

Earlier on Wednesday, replying to an adjournment motion in the Assembly, Satheesan had said KIIFB projects worth Rs 70,000 crore remained to be completed with no clear plan to raise the required money, and alleged that the board had functioned as a separate empire outside adequate Finance Department control. The Cabinet's Vigilance recommendation is the first formal investigative step announced after that debate.

The other side and what happens next

The allegations are the committee's and the government's claims at this stage and have been disputed by the Opposition. Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has defended KIIFB as an important mechanism for delivering public projects and has described the Sudha Pillai committee report as a political document, The Hindu reported earlier this month. Former Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal has also argued that the value of assets created should be counted alongside repayment obligations.

What happens next is the formal Vigilance investigation into the Kannur acquisition, assisted by the finance and tax departments. No findings against any individual have been announced, and the probe's timeline has not been made public.