News Tamil Nadu

Anti-BJP Dravidianist & Self-Styled Activist Piyush Manush Makes Baseless Allegations About TN Governor RN Ravi

October 29, 2024
The Commune

Alleged environmental activist Piyush Manush has made new (and unfounded) allegations of corruption against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who also serves as Chairman of the Auroville Foundation. Manush has claimed a fraudulent scheme of mismanagement involving ₹1,000 crores within the foundation, but guess what? He has not provided any supporting documentation for his allegations against Governor Ravi.

In a series of social media posts, Manush criticized the management of the Auroville Foundation, describing it as a religious organization that has lost its integrity. He claims that the land donated for the Auroville community a total of 4,800 acres has been mismanaged, with 1,200 acres lying outside the master plan. Manush allegedly detailed a controversial land exchange strategy, alleging that Governor Ravi is trading valuable land along national highways for less valuable rural land in Auroville, resulting in significant financial losses. He estimates that this practice led to a loss of ₹750 crore.

Piyush Manush stated, “Listen to this big scam of RN Ravi. He is the Chairman of the Auroville Foundation. This has become a huge problem. Many people have opposed it. So what is the ₹1000 crore scam. Let us go to it directly. Auroville is like a temple. Not a temple exactly, but a religious organization. People come there out of faith. Donations were given for Mother – 4800 acres of land. Followers of Aurobindo, Mother, the movement gave donations – 4800 acres. Out of this 1200 acres is outside. Not within the master plan.”

“So, will you grab that land? You people are asking to make the temples private; it is for this reason. The temples have the highest wealth – be it gold, land, everything is owned by temples. So, in order to take that away, it needs to be privatized and not be under government control. In this case, there are lands outside. Some of them have become costly – their value has gone up. Some are valued at ₹100 crores, while others maybe ₹10-₹20 crores. But Auroville is like a village, those who have been there know it. It is like a separate town. Now that rural land is being exchanged,” he said.

“For example, Auroville land cannot be sold but they can be exchanged – that is a clause. This RN Ravi, BJP RSS fellow caught that point. So, what he is doing is, there is a land on the national highway, could be valued at ₹30 crores, but the land here will be ₹30/₹40/₹20 lakhs worth, in the rural area Auroville space. He is exchanging 1 acre each of these two lands. Will it be alright? Like this, he has exchanged 30 acres. Imagine losing ₹20-₹25 crores per acre. ₹30 crores exchanged, it has become ₹750 crores,” he further added.

In the second part of the video, the self-proclaimed activist expressed concerns about the changing administration within Auroville, stating that local residents previously managed their community services but that the introduction of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has led to contracts being awarded to BJP-affiliated companies, jeopardizing local employment. Manush further alleged that the governance structure was altered after Governor Ravi and Jayanti Ravi, took charge, dismantling existing committees meant to oversee land transactions and replacing them with a new governing board that includes the Puducherry and Tamil Nadu Governors. Manush also questioned the allocation of ₹1,750 crores from the central government, claiming that only ₹60 crores have been utilized effectively, hinting at a potential ₹50 crore scam.

He continued, “Earlier, the residents of Auroville would take care of their own internal administration. At first, they took care of laying roads, water, sanitation etc. But after RN Ravi, BJP came, he is bringing CPWD into the picture. CPWD is giving the contracts to BJP people in Coimbatore, Hyderabad. Local employment is gone. You know the issue with this land scam is that after the land exchange has happened, what they do is, there are 4 committees such as land committee, appraisal committee etc so that no fraud can be done. The governing board has eminent members such as MS Swaminathan, JRD Tata.”

“They will put the final signature but before that there will be several checks taking place. When RN Ravi and Jayanti Ravi took over, they dismantled the existing set up. Jayanti Ravi is the lady who was the collector when the Godhra riots took place. She was the Health Secretary for many years. She is a true-blue Modi bhakt. After all these people came, they come up with a new governing board, for the first time they put the Puducherry and TN Governors on the board. They make them the Chairman and started overseeing the sale and purchase of the lands,” he alleged.

“Now there is one more thing, Auroville is a township with 2000-2500 people. The central government allots ₹1750 crores, people are asking why are you allotting this much money. ₹1 crore for one person. How is it? But the amount spent is ₹60 crores, they wouldn’t have spent even ₹10 crores from those ₹60 crores. So that is a ₹50-crore scam. This is available publicly. I can keep on going. How they brought in the RSS people, how they spoiled a well-functioning institution, how they removed 500 Dalit people from their jobs as soon as the change happened, there were 740 units, now they have made it 430,” he further alleged.

Upon investigation, it seems he may be basing his conclusions solely on the information available on a website called Auroville Media, where allegations are being made. Additionally, there are no other reports supporting his claims that the central government has allocated ₹1,750 crore specifically for the foundation. This raises questions about whether his allegations are an attempt to defame the governor and regain media attention, especially given his decreased prominence in other controversies, such as those involving Isha.

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