Sarva Sewa Sangh Fights to Save its Varanasi Campus From Govt

The Sarva Sewa Sangh, Varanasi, sits on an 8.70-acre campus in Rajghat, on the banks of River Ganga. The land’s sale deed, purchased from the Northern Railways on May 15, 1960, is preserved in the office of the NGO. 

Nonetheless, in December 2020, the government took over a portion of the land as massive construction is planned on the Kashi Railway Station nearby. Building material has been dumped at the site, and temporary toilets and other structures have been erected illegally for the workers. The NGO has written numerous letters in protest against the land use but to no avail. 

Officials of the district administration have so far offered verbal assurances of compensation and rent for temporary possession of the land, but no money has yet been paid.

Photo Credit: Ravi Batra

It all started when on December 2, 2020, district authorities attempted to level a portion of this land by filling it up with rubble. When the members of the NGO protested, they were allegedly informed verbally by authorities that the land was listed as barren and belonged to the government. A formal written complaint was lodged with authorities on December 5, 2020.

A team from the revenue department clarified after an inspection on January 23, 2021, that this land was legally part of the campus of the Sarva Sewa Sangh. Despite this clarification, however, the illegal levelling of the land continued. The approximately 200 by 400 metres of land that has been taken over has still not been vacated.

Meanwhile, work on the Kashi station has begun, and building material is being dumped at this site. The SSS was verbally promised rent to use this land earlier, but no money has yet been released even though more than a year has passed.

Photo Credit: Ravi Batra

In a letter to the district collector on April 15, 2021, SSS managing trustee Ashok Kumar Sharan reminded him of the pending rent and sought Rs 10,000 per day as compensation for the use of the land beginning December 2, 2020.

However, no written response has been received for any letter sent by the trustees of the SSS to the authorities. “We would like to avoid going to the court, and are trying to get the matter resolved through writing regular letters to the authorities. There is an acknowledgement that this is encroachment, and we have been assured that rent will be paid. No rent payment has yet occurred,” says Ramdheeraj Singh of the Sarva Sewa Sangh.

Newsclicks attempts to reach the Varanasi district collector over the phone were unsuccessful. A recorded message said that the dialled number was “out of service due to non-payment of telephone bills”.