Prakat Posted September 2, 2012 Posted September 2, 2012 He is the Mayor of Bangalore City, which is now among the international destinations for investors and business travellers. But that did not stop Mayor D Venkateshmurthy from declaring himself and his wife as "landless labourers" for getting eight acres land worth Rs 15 crore from the state government on the outskirts of Bangalore. The incident came to light recently when the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) was scrutinizing the allotment of land by the government under the 'Bagarhukum' scheme (landless labourers are entitled to government lands to practice agriculture). The BJP is in power in the Greater Bangalore City Corporation and the Mayor's actions have dented its image. Though Venkateshmurthy had applied for the land in 2004 (when he was a BJP councillor), the papers were cleared only in 2012 by the government. Venkateshmurthy has shamelessly admitted that there was nothing wrong in applying for the land under 'Bagarhukum' scheme because he was a landless labourer in 1992, when he first filed his application. "This is a very old case⦠The mayor has come up the hard way. His political rivals are trying to defame him. He has already returned the eight acres land allotted to him. There is nothing illegal here," his personal secretary contended. The mayor, in his explanation to the government, has dragged deputy chief minister & home minister R Ashoka into the mess. In 2004, Ashoka, who was then the Uttarahalli MLA, headed the Bagarhukum Regularisation and Recommendation Committee in Bangalore South, and recommended Venkatesmurthy's name for allotment of the land. Subsequently, eight acres of Gomala land (fields earmarked by the government for cattle grazing) was allotted to Venkateshmurthy in South Bangalore in Somanahalli village (Uttarahalli hobli). The land is today worth Rs 15 crore. "I am not the only person who was allotted land under the Bagarhukum scheme. Plenty of other high profile politicians, including MLAs, were allotted land under the same scheme. I do not want to take their names. I am being targeted unnecessarily even after the matter is closed," Venkateshmurthy said. Incidentally, Venkateshmurthy has inherited 30 acres of land from his parents and is not entitled to land under the Bagarhukum scheme. The sub-divisional magistrate of Bangalore South Taluk has been entrusted with the task of investigating the case. Meanwhile, the BMTF issued a notice to Venkateshmurthy and his wife K Prabha for suppressing facts while applying for government land. Though the couple was supposed to appear before the BMTF, they claimed that they were yet to receive the notice. This latest land scam has further marred the ruling-BJP, whose ministers and MLAs are facing dozens of land scam cases. "It appears that the BJP leaders, right from ministers to councillors, want to cheat the government by taking over expensive land. The mayor should be booked under IPC sections for fooling the government," former Mayor K Chandrashekar said. Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bangalore-mayor-becomes-landless-labourer-for-15-acres-of-govt-land/1/214082.html
bangladeshifan Posted September 2, 2012 Posted September 2, 2012 so landless laboureres get 15 crores worth land in india
coffee_rules Posted September 2, 2012 Posted September 2, 2012 Bangalore in news a lot these days. Probably because of the BJP govt. There was a lot less news from Bangalore when SM Krishna was the CM. Something to think about.
Silva Posted September 3, 2012 Posted September 3, 2012 These schemes intended to help the poor generally end up helping rich bureaucratic and politicians. People should stop judging schemes based on how well their intentioned and rather judge them based on what their likely to do. Maybe then India will reduce the amount of corruption they have.
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