Rajasthan
Shocking Scam
Officials grab land meant for afforestation
Politicians, senior IAS and IPS officers and their spouses, as well as state government employees stand accused of having grabbed valuable land, much of it on the ourskirts of cities, under the ruse of a re-forestation scheme. A continuing investigation into perhaps one of the most scandalous landscams in Rajasthan has established that over a four-year period starting in 1986, some 80 percent of about 38,000 hectares (4 bighas equal a hectare) ‘allotted’ under the plan –values at about Rs 200 crore – was either in violation of the rules or was misused. What has shocked investigators is that a large number of government officials are involved. While there is still no clear picture of what percentage of this land went to bureaucrats and politicians, a preliminary list reads like a who’s who of the state’s officialdom.
Nearly half the land grants given to 24.981 individuals- are expected to be cancelled soon. Declares Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat: “It was open loot. The allottees are worse than thugs and pindaris. I will take action against officials who vioulated rules.”
The land was allotted under the Rajasthan Land Revenue (allotment of uncultivable wasteland for development of private forest) Rules, 1986. Each individual allottee was given one to five hectares while societies and cooperatives got up to 25, on a 25-year extendable lease, free of cost. The allottees were supposed to plant trees specified by the Forest Department on uncultivable wastelands. And 50 percent of the land was to be given to Harijans, and the landless poor. The incentive was to grow trees-replenishable, quick- growing forests- as a cash crop which would be bought by the Government The idea was to promote private growing of trees in order to meet the increasing wood shortage in the state.
But as the Jaipur administration has found, not only was the 50 percent reservation for the poor brazenly ignored but also, in 80 percent of the cases virtually no trees have been planted within the specified two year period. Under the guise of afforestation, many people acquired either cultivable land, or planned to upgrade their wasteland plots to grow cash crops or for use as farmhouses. While rules prohibit allotment of land in master plan areas or within 5 km of city limits, in Jaipur, most grants have been within the prohibited areas while thousands of bighas of real wasteland went abegging.
The pattern is replicated else-where. More than half the plots have been carved out in three districts- Jaipur, Udaipur and Dungarpur- where land prices are comparatively high. It was of no consequence that the scheme envisaged giving at least half the land to the landless poor, Harijans, tribals and local villagers. But the list of 2,473 allottes in Jaipur district reveals that most of them have been prominent people including nine IAS and six IPS officers, two dozen each of the Rajasthan Administrative Service and Police Service, politicians, and the spouse and son of minister.
Even more shocking is that many members of the allotment committees- the MLA of the are, the pradhan, the sarpanch, development officer, forest range officer-recommended themselves or their family members. The list approved by the then SDM of Jaipur J.C. Mohanti, was topped by- who else- himself. His booty: 10 bighas of land in Amer tehsil, dotted with not a tree still. Similarly, BJP legislator Ujla Arora gave away two plots measuring 25 bighas to her son which have been withdrawn since.
More blatant is the case of hte then collector of Jaipur, J.N.R. Gaur. He grabbed all of seven plots measuring 35 bighas, in the names of his three sons and two other relatives. When contacted, his wife, Chandra lata, said they had returned the land to the Government. The fact is, the grants were cancelled.
Half of the 15,794 bighas allotted in Jaipur district is in the barred category: river-beds. Further, allotments have been made against incomplete application formsfull names and addresses missing- with the mandatory checking of antecedents waived.
Another smokescreen used by allottees has been getting the plots granted to their wives, whose maiden names are mentioned. For instance, in March 1989, 10 bighas of land was allotted in Jaipur tehsil to one Uma, daughter of Govind Ram. She turned out to be the wife of Purushottam Agarwal, a senior IAS officer.
BRAZEN LOOT | |
Land misused | 30,400 hectares* |
Value | Rs 200 crore |
Allottees | Politicians, officers of the IAS, IPS and Rajasthan civil services |
Rules Flouted |
|
Present status |
|
*1 hectare +4 bighas
But the most glaring flouting of rules has been in granting land to government employees, which requires the permission of the state Government. None seems to have been sought. Comments former BJP MP Nathu Singh: “The guilty officials must be suspended.”
To ensure impunity, the officials concerned often offered plum plots to local MLAs and politicians. R.K. Pathak, a BJP leader and husband of Vidya Pathak, excise minister in the Shekhawat Cabinet, was one of the fortunate. Pathak and his son, Vijay, were allotted 10 bighas in Bassi tehsil in 1988 , when Vidya was an MLA. Justifying why he couldn’t plant trees, Pathak sayas : “I was abroad when the allotment was made. Besides, the land was too far away.”
Similarly, Sushila, wife of Shiv Charan Mathur, was allotted 10 bighas in September 1988. Mathur was chief ministerthen. Though he insists he does not “ own a single bigha in the state”, sources in government maintain the allotment is in his wife’s name.
Although the land scandal came to the Government’s notice in 1989 , it was only in July last year that further allotments under the scheme were stopped and an inquiry ordered. Then ensued a rush to plant saplings.
Now, on the the chief minister’s orders, 4,183 allotments have been cancelled in the state till last fornight while judicial proceedings have been initiated against 9,588 other grants.
Bureaucrats involved are running scared now. Many of them are avoiding the media. When asked his comments, Deputy Secretary in the Revenue Department, K.K. Sabhiki whose son Rajiv was allotted four bighas, discovered suddenly that he had to leave on tour within an hour. “But no irregularity was committed.” He said.
WHO’s WHO OF LAND- GRABBERS | ||
ALLOTTE | CONNECTION | LAND* |
R.K. Pathak and Vijay Pathak |
Excise Minister’s husband and son |
10 |
Dharmendra, Anita, Prabhat, Ashok and Manjulata |
Sons and relatives of former Jaipur Collector |
35 |
Yashomitra | Son of BJP MLA | 25 |
Archna Shrivastava | Wife of a Secretary | 10 |
Uma Agarwal | Wife of IAS officer | 10 |
Shantnu Kumar Pramila and Arvind |
Udaipur DIG Wife and son of DIG |
5 9 |
Rajiv Sabhiki | Son of Dy. Secretary | 4 |
Kamla | Additional SP’s wife | 10 |
Piyush Agarwal |
Brother-in –law of IAS officer |
10 |
Sorbah | Son of SP | 10 |
J.C. Mohanti | Bara Collector | 10 |
Neeta Agarwal | Wife of IAS officer | 10 |
*In bighas
With its senior officer taking such a stand, chances of the Revenue Department, under whose purview the case comes, taking a judicious view are slim. Again, can Mohanti, described as the kingpin of the scandal, conduct a fair probe in his collectorate, Bara? Apparently little remedy is available when the fence itself starts eating the crop.