Govt's decision to re-examine land given to sitarist flayed

Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today flayed the LDF government for deciding to re-examine allotment of two acres of prime land at nearby Veli to sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan for his international school of music, saying it was an 'insult to Kerala's culture.
"The decision to cancel the allotment is an insult to Kerala's culture," he said in a statement here.
Defending the decision of the previous government, he said the venture would have been an asset to the state.
Chandy said not only the cancellation decision, but also the behaviour of tourism department officials towards the sarod maestro was "painful".

The Chandy government had in September 2015 sanctioned two acres of land, part of the 25 acres of Veli tourist village being developed by the tourist department.
Tourism department sources had on October 6 said that the Government was re-examining a full range of orders and cabinet decisions taken in the last 2-3 months of UDF rule.
"The land alloted to Amjad Ali Khan's proposed academy is one among the decisions which is being reviewed," they had said.