As the Congress party on Thursday alleged that Amritsar’s prestigious Khalsa College was in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) grip, the Khalsa College Management has described the same as “false and frivolous”.
Congress leader and its candidate from Majitha assembly segment SRS lalli Majithia alleged that the RSS is dictating all recruitments being made by the current management of Khalsa College. He also demanded that the State Government should immediately take charge of the Khalsa College Charitable Society.
lalli Majithia has also demanded registration of an FIR for criminal conspiracy and defacing or demolition of the archaeological buildings of Khalsa College besides a probe into the working of management of Khalsa Charitable Trust in the past 10 years.
Taking strong exception, the College Management has announced to take “legal action” the Congress leader.
lalli Majithia, also Punjab Congress general secretary and former Khalsa College governing body member, also accused former Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia and his family members of being involved in an education scam worth Rs 3000 crore.
He claimed that the Badals and the Majithias had “forcefully” removed the then president of the Khalsa College Governing Council in 2004 and later formed their own body without holding any elections.
Bikram Majithia had appointed his father Satyajit Singh Majithia as president, and Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal (brother-in-law and sister), Asmanjas Kaur Majithia (mother), Gurmehar Singh (brother) and himself as the members of the governing council.
He alleged that the Badals and the Majithias had floated the idea of Khalsa University and appointed Bikram Singh Majithia's father Satyajit Singh Majithia as its chancellor and RSS leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna as its pro-chancellor.
The body formed by the Badals and the Majithias, according to lalli Majithia, also tried to take over the land and properties of the Khalsa College, including Khalsa College of Education, Khalsa College for Women and Khalsa College of Pharmacy, but this move of theirs faced stiff opposition.
“After forming the illegal bodies, they not only transferred the three colleges under the Khalsa University but also grabbed a 56-acre land situated on Khasra No 220, which is currently priced at Rs 364 crore. Bikram Majithia and his family members have been trying to convert the historic Khalsa College into a private university, despite the fact that the institution is already under the management of an autonomous body,” he said.
He maintained that 337-acre land on which the Amritsar Khalsa College is situated is valued at around Rs 2,200 crore as the present market value of each acre is nearly Rs 6.5 crore.
Apart from this, the institution also owns an additional 17-acre land, which is priced at Rs one lakh per acre, he said adding that the cost of the heritage building of the college is estimated to be approximately Rs 200 crore and the total cost of the land and property is assessed to be around Rs 3,000 crore.
Khalsa College was set up in 1904 by the then princely families of Patiala, Nabha, Faridkot, Kapurthala and Jind, besides others with the aim of providing educational facilities to the people of Punjab.
The Khalsa College Society runs as much as 13 institutions, including colleges and schools.
Punjab Assembly on September 14, last year, had passed the Khalsa University Bill-2016.
Terming it an attempt to take over the prestigious institution, Congress had promised that it would scrap the Act when it formed the Government.