[IAC#RG] Aadhar base on ailing BSNL land

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Aadhaar base on ailing BSNL land
By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

A PLAN to set up a headquarters in the National Capital has landed
the Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) in controversy.

In April this year, the Delhi Development Authority ( DDA) had
approved a proposal by UIDAI seeking " change in land use" to
facilitate the construction of its headquarters on Bangla Sahib Road,
a prime location in the New Delhi area.

The allotment, however, has raised many eyebrows as the possession of
the land ( formerly with the Department of Telecom) is now with Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd ( BSNL). Another state- run unit, Mahanagar Telecom
Nigam Ltd ( MTNL), has also laid claims over the land as it is in
Delhi and the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court. Both BSNL
and MTNL are loss- making public sector units.

A top BSNL official said the land on which UIDAI office is coming up
was meant for developing the company's telecom infrastructure.

" The matter is before the high court and the government should take
note of the fact that we are under tremendous financial pressure and
it ( transfer of land to UIDAI) will be a big loss for us," the
official said.

RTI activist and India Against Corruption ( IAC) national convener
Sarabjit Roy has now challenged the DDA's approval to " change of land
use", which he claims has been done as a " special favour" to the
UIDAI. Roy alleged that the valuable piece of land ( measuring 4447.49
sqmt), worth around ` 900 crore, has been leased out to UIDAI at "
throwaway price" using the change of land use clause. He, however, did
not specify the price at which the land may have been leased out to
UIDAI. Roy said he suspects a scam behind the allotment. " There is a
major potential scandal involving the role of officials in the
ministry of urban development, and it is very likely that there shall
be a fullblown CBI and CAG inquiry into such land grab scandals as the
UIDAI is only the tip of the iceberg.

At least 90 other large prime plots land use has been misclassified
and/ or changed causing a loss of over ` 18,000 crore to the DDA in
the course of past two years," said Roy in his email on September 16.

A senior DDA official told MAIL TODAY that the UIDAI had requested the
authority for change of land use as the BSNL and MTNL were locked in a
court battle over the ownership of the plot.

The request was initially examined by a technical committee of the DDA
and after its recommendation the proposal was placed before the
authority for consideration and for further processing under Section
11A of Delhi Development Act. The DDA gave its approval in the last
week of April.

MAIL TODAY visited the location on Friday to check its current status.

Most part of the land is lying unused as BSNL is functioning out of a
single- storey office on the campus. BSNL officials confirmed that the
land has been allotted to UIDAI. " There is a dispute going on between
BSNL and MTNL which is pending before the court and now the land has
been allotted to the UIDAI," said an official requesting anonymity.

Roy has lodged a complaint with the DDA and demanded scrapping of the
' change in land use', which, he says, has been considered by the
authority.

In his September 16 email, Roy said: " And after hearing me and
another IAC affiliated expert, the DDA's Statutory Board of Enquiry
has indicated that they shall be accepting IAC's prayer to scrap the
proposal allowing change of land use for UIDAI's headquarters, and the
proposal is being returned to the ministry of urban development." This
matter was also reported by a magazine Moneylife in its article on "
UID's land allotment scam". MAIL TODAY tried to get a reaction from
UIDAI chairperson Nandan Nilekani but the latter could not be
contacted. According to the petition filed by Roy, the land allotted
by the urban development ministry to UIDAI was misinterpreted under
Section 11 A of the Delhi Development Act.