Institutions Killed in India as Army as well as the President Involved in controersy!

Institutions Killed in India as Army as well as the President Involved in controersy!

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - Eight HUNDRED Twenty SIX

Palash Biswas

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Institutions Killed in India as Army as well as the President Involved in controersy!Pratibha Patil, president of India and the supreme commander of the armed forces is all set to complete her tenure. But the firstever Woman President would not be happy. The highest office of the First Citizen is openly used to appease corporate lobbying. The President issued a decree against Coal India so that it should sign an agreement to ensure coal supply to private companies. Now the cabinet has decided that she should ask for explaination on supreme court`s decision on Two G Spectrum case. The son of the President already invoved in having unaccounted money during Municipal elections in Maharashtra. Now the President herself is accused to grab 2,61,000 sq ft of land meant for soldiers and officers!It is shame for the President and Indian Army, both. Disaster spelt against Democracy in India.

President Pratibha Patil finds herself in a controversy over her post-retirement home in Pune, but her office Thursday rejected allegations of land-grab as "malicious" and asserted that no rules have been violated.The Rashtrapati Bhavan has issued a clarification over media reports claiming that President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has 'grabbed' land much in excess of her entitlement to build her post retirement home in Pune, and termed the news items to be factually incorrect and malicious.

"To say that a house is being constructed for occupation by the President on demission of office by "snatching" or "grabbing" land meant for soldiers is factually incorrect and malicious. The land belongs to the Ministry of Defence and will continue to remain with the Ministry of Defence. The title of the land is not being alienated in any manner whatsoever," the clarification statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

"The ownership of both the land and the house she will be occupying will continue to remain vested in the government and therefore there is no substance in the allegation of personal gains," the clarification statement adds.

President Pratibha Patil was at the centre of yet another controversy over her post-retirement home in Pune.

An organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune has alleged that over fives acres of land had been alloted for purpose of her residence after she demits office later in July this year when her five-year term ends.

Suresh Patil, a retired Lt Col of the Pune-based 'Justice for Jawan', part of NGO 'Green Thumb' group, who has accessed details about the Government's measures for providing her housing in Pune, claims that a large extent of land measuring over 2.60 lakh square feet has been alloted to her in Khadki cantonment in Pune.
He claims that a house with a plinth area of 4,500 square feet is being built for her by bringing down two British-era county bungalows.

The former Army official questioned why such a large extent of land was being fenced to protect this house for Pratibha Patil, who recently made news when an RTI application brought out the fact that over Rs. 205 crore were spent on her foreign travels.

However, Rashtrapati Bhavan maintains that there has been no wrong doing or violation of rules. All rules were being strictly adhered to for a post-retirement house for the President. Under rules, a former President is entitled to a furnished bungalow anywhere in India of his or her choice.

In places where government accommodation is available, it should be comparable to the highest type of residence available to the Union Ministers.

Where it is not available, the size of residence should not exceed 4,500 square feet with a living area not exceeding 2,000 square feet.

The privilege is extended to the spouse after the death of the President or a former President. Col Patil said that he had sent several RTI applications to the Army's Southern Command seeking reasons for fencing the entire five acre land with a wall but failed to get any response.

Reacting to the allegations, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Archana Datta said 'the land in question is a defence land. The question of transfer of land to any individual does not arise."

She said the house will remain with the President till her life time and go back to the defence. Asked about the new construction being undertaken at the site, she said, 'It was not a vacant land and there is no new construction taking place. Its only a renovation'.

To a question about the allegation that around five acres of land had been fenced for the President's house, the spokesperson said that Ministry of Defence would be an appropriate authority to reply on this.
"I maintain that no rules have been violated."

According to the clarification statement, the President is entitled to accommodation after demission of office as provided for under the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act, 1951.

It is therefore the legitimate entitlement of the President to occupy an accommodation provided by the government and all former Presidents have availed this benefit. The only variance in the present case is that the President will be occupying a government accommodation outside Delhi," the clarification statement adds.

The clarification statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said rules provide that the size of the residence to be provided to the President on demission of office shall be comparable to a residence allotted to a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers.

"It is common knowledge that houses of Union Ministers in the Lutyens' Zone area, though belong to Type VIII category, are not of any uniform size. Quite logically, therefore, the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act does not specify a fixed living area for former President's when they occupy a government accommodation," said the clarification statement.

"The mention of living area not exceeding 2000 sq. ft. is only indicative and applicable where a suitable government residence is not available and a residence is to be taken on lease/rent basis, which does not apply in the present case, since the President will be occupying a government accommodation," the statement adds.

According to the clarification statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the resent residence occupied in Pune is a house which was earlier occupied by an officer at the level of a Lt. Colonel.

"The house being old, needed renovation to make it suitable for residential purposes and accordingly certain additions/modifications have been taken up to suit the requirements of the President on demission of office," the statement adds.

The clarification statement further said : "The President is not coming in the way of residential accommodation being provided to Territorial Army cadets. That only that plot of land which is to be used for accommodating the President must only be used for providing residential accommodation for soldiers lacks rationale."

"Merely because the President has chosen to reside in the Cantonment area cannot be viewed as being apathetic or indifferent to the welfare of the soldiers. Surely, the city of Pune and surrounding areas have enough alternative land available for their accommodation," the statement adds.

An organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune has claimed that over fives acres of land had been alloted for her residence after she leaves office at the end of her five-year-term in July.

Suresh Patil, a retired ex-serviceman involved with the Pune-based 'Justice for Jawan', part of NGO 'Green Thumb' group, has alleged that 260,000 sq ft has been alloted to her in Khadki cantonment in Pune. He has questioned why a house with a plinth area of 4,500 sq ft is being built for her by bringing down two British-era country bungalows.

"To say that a house is being constructed for occupation by the president on demission of office by 'snatching' or 'grabbing' land meant for soldiers is factually incorrect and malicious. The land belongs to the ministry of defence and will continue to remain with the Ministry of Defence," Archana Datta, OSD to the president, said here in a statement.

Datta clarified that the title of the land is not being alienated in any manner and the ownership of both the land and the house Patil will be occupying will continue to remain vested in the government. Therefore, there is no substance in the allegation of personal gains, she said.

Under the the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act, 1951, the president of India is entitled to accommodation after demission of office. "It is therefore the legitimate entitlement of the president to occupy an accommodation provided by the government and all former presidents have availed this benefit," Datta said.

Datta pointed out that the rules provide that the size of the residence to be provided to the president on demission of office shall be comparable to a residence allotted to a minister in the union council of ministers.

She added that the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act does not specify a fixed living area for former president's when they occupy a government accommodation.

"The mention of living area not exceeding 2,000 sq. ft. is only indicative and applicable where a suitable government residence is not available and a residence is to be taken on lease/rent basis, which does not apply in the present case, since the president will be occupying a government accommodation."

Patil's office asserted that the president is not coming in the way of residential accommodation being provided to Territorial Army cadets.

"Merely because the president has chosen to reside in the cantonment area cannot be viewed as being apathetic or indifferent to the welfare of the soldiers. Surely, the city of Pune and surrounding areas have enough alternative land available for their accommodation," said Datta.

The controversy over Patil's post-retirement home comes close on the heels of a slew of Right to Information applications that have shown that her trips abroad since she assumed office in July 2007 cost the exchequer a whopping Rs.205 crore ($40 million). This, the RTI said, surpasses the record of all her predecessors.



President Pratibha Patil grabs 2,61,000 sq ft of land meant for soldiers and officers
April 11, 2012 07:20 PM |  
Vinita Deshmukh

An RTI activist from Pune, Col Suresh Patil (retd) remarked, "Dr Rajendra Prasad donated his land to Vinoba Bhave and here we have Pratibhatai Patil taking away the land for of her own men

Consider this: Eight hundred jawans of the Territorial Army (TA) are presently posted in Pune but there is residential accommodation for only 14. This being a family posting (a bonanza offered after a harsh field station posting), each jawan desires to bring his family, otherwise left behind in his hometown, when he is guarding the nation's frontiers, often in a challenging geographical terrain. However, due to lack of official accommodation, a jawan is asked by his seniors to refrain from getting his family to Pune. Those jawans who decide to get their families to Pune nevertheless, live in slum-like conditions in one-room dwellings, near the Pune cantonment, with no drinking water facility.  In addition, paucity of residential accommodation for hundreds of soldiers and officers in the Indian Armed Forces in Pune is causing great inconvenience to the families.

Now consider this: Pratibha Patil, president of India and the supreme commander of the armed forces is building a palatial home for herself on a whopping 261,000 sq ft of land in Khadki Cantonment in Pune (out of which the bungalow occupies about 4,500 sq ft). The land belongs to the defence. It will now have a fortified home, the construction of which is nearing completion.

The president is eligible for only 2,000 sq ft bungalow in any part of the country if he/she wants the government to hire a home for him/her, after retirement. Otherwise, he/she is entitled to a government-owned Class V bungalow (around 4,500 sq ft) if it is available.  He/she is not eligible to build a home on government land. Some former defence personnel from Pune who are campaigning against this illegality are taking strong objections to the fact that Ms Patil is constructing her house on government land, when hundreds of jawans and officers are facing official accommodation crisis.

This revelation under the Right to Information (RTI) Act was procured by Col Suresh Patil (retd) and founder of Justice for Jawans (JFJ), RTI activist Anup Awasthi and Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) who are campaigning against Ms Patil's 'snatching' away land meant for soldiers and officers.

The RTI application was sent to the president's office. As per the reply, under the President's Emoluments and Pension Act, 1951 and rules framed under the President's Pension Rule, 1962, "where suitable government residence is not available for allotment to a retired president, the size of the residence to be taken on lease to be provided to a retired president shall have a living area not exceeding 2,000 sq ft".

"A place where government-owned accommodation is allotted to a retired president, the size of the residence is comparable to a residence allotted to a minister in the Union council of ministers and if the highest type of government residence available as a particular place is less in size than a residence allotted to a minister in the Union council of ministers, the highest type of accommodation available at that place shall be allotted to the ex-president. At present, a minister is entitled to a plinth area of the bungalow as 4,498 sq ft".

The reply under RTI also stated that she is eligible to drinking water and electricity supply, free of cost, throughout her life.

States commander Ravindra Pathak, member of the IESM and who invoked the RTI, "taking away more than 2.5 lakh sq ft of defence land is sheer looting by Ms Patil. We are sending a letter to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take up the case suo moto. We have no money to pay for lawyers' expenses."

Col Suresh Patil (retd) elaborates, "Two defence bungalows have been pulled down to make way for Ms Patil's bungalow and the vast expanse of land, over 2 lakh sq ft has been fortified for her. We are saying that let her keep the 2,000 sq ft she is entitled to and give away the remaining land for constructing official accommodation for soldiers and officers. Otherwise, there are numerous bungalows in the three cantonments of Pune and she could have been given accommodation in one of these."

No other president has made such claims for personal gains, alleges Col Patil. He adds says, "Dr Rajendra Prasad donated his land to Vinoba Bhave and here we have Pratibhatai Patil taking away the land for of her own men—after all she is the supreme commander of the armed forces."

RTI in this case provided information but who's going to tie the proverbial bell round the cat? Hence, we need a strong anti-corruption law.

(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte. She can be reached at vinitapune@gmail.com)
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