Hand over 'unauthorised' land in Santiniketan: Visva Bharati to Amartya Sen

Claiming that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been occupying parts of a plot of land in an "unauthorised" manner in West Bengal's Santiniketan, the Visva Bharati has urged the economist to hand over that portion to the central university.

A letter signed by the deputy registrar of the university on Tuesday said the residence of the noted economist has been built on an area, which covers extra 13 decimals of land.

The university also said it was ready to undertake a joint survey of its representatives and the surveyor or advocate deputed by Sen to verify the claims if he wanted.

"It has been found from records and physical survey/demarcation that you are in unauthorised occupation of 13 decimals of land belonging to Visva Bharati..." the letter said.

"You are requested to hand over the said 13 decimals of land to the university at the earliest," it added.

The Nobel laureate's father Asutosh Sen had taken 125 decimals of land on lease from the varsity in 1943, its spokesperson Mahua Banerjee said.

Sen or his family members could not be contacted for comments.

In January 2021, Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty had accused Sen's family of being in illegal possession of land at the campus.

Sen had then said the plot of land was on a long-term lease.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier alleged that Visva Bharati authorities were harassing Sen for his criticism of BJP's policies and ideology.