The most important issue on which the Prem Kumar Dhumal-led government found itself in the dock was allowing the realtors to build flats in the environmentally sensitive thick forested areas in tearing haste. The other issues which generated controversies included the government permitting mushrooming of private universities in the state and the dilapidated condition of roads.

Besides these, the issues which have been figuring in public debates include the charge made in the Himachal Pradesh high court by the two main prosecution witnesses in the audio CD case against Union Minister and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that their statements recorded by the state Vigilance Bureau Officer were forged. Because of space constraints, this column will deal only with the issue of permission given to realtors in tearing hurry and corruption.

In this era of scams, real estate has become one of the biggest sources of corruption, favouritism and nepotism with builders, land sharks and ruling politicians making piles of money by using the state power at the cost of public exchequer and the common people. The trend has picked up in recent years taking different forms and alarming dimensions. Among the land scams-hit states are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (both BJP ruled states) and Haryana and Maharashtra (both Congress ruled states). The latest to join the ‘august’ list is Himachal Pradesh.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa had allotted valuable properties to his own family members. Public anger, attacks from the opposition and also from within the ruling party posed a serious threat to his survival in office. Under the pressure from an embarrassed BJP high command, he had to cancel the allotments for saving his ‘gaddi’.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court on April 6 quashed the Madhya Pradesh government’s land allotment to the Kushabhau Thakre Trust describing it as “an act of favouritism in gross violation of the Constitution”. Some of the BJP’s top central leaders including L.K.Advani are said to be Trust members. That the land allotment issue in Mahdya Pradesh had wider dimensions is borne out by the fact that soon after the Public Interest petitioner B.S.Sharma, president of the Akhil Bhartiya Upbhokta Congress had filed the case in the Supreme Court, the state government withdrew its land allotment to an organization owned by the wife of housing and environment minister Jayant Malaiya. Sharma alleged that the government had made a large number of allotments to BJP organizations charging only 10-25 percent of the market price.

The land allotment issue in Haryana has become a major political issue. The charge against the Hooda-government is that it has been acquisitioning farmers lands and then releasing them to builders and realtors at prices much below the prevailing market price. The issue has generated a heated controversy evoking strong opposition not only from the opposition but also from within the ruling Congress.

In Maharashtra, it has been the Adarsh Society land allotment case which has gained a notoriety to find itself in the list of mega scams like the Commonwealth Games and 2G spectrum.

The latest to join the list of scam-tainted states is the BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh which has allowed realtors to build flats in thickly forested areas in tearing haste. The charge against the government which generated heat during the Budget session was that it accorded ex-post facto approval for granting Essentiality Certificates (ECs) to six builders soon after designated areas were notified under the Himachal Pradesh Apartment and Property regulation Act on November 22, 2010. Due process was not followed and approval was granted even though the then principal secretary, urban development, gave an adverse recommendation in some cases.

Urban development Minister Mohinder Singh admitted that irregularities had been committed in according ECs to six builders. He said action would be taken against the officers responsible for the irregularities in according ex-post facto approval to the builders. Under attack from the Congress for alleged favours granted to private builders, Chief Minister Dhumal announced in the Assembly that a select committee of the House would be set up to examine the Himachal Pradesh apartment and Property Regulation Act and to look into all permissions granted to builders under it right from the inception to March 31, 2011. If irregularities were found, a judicial probe would be ordered.

Politicians holding public offices are of three varieties. One is of those who own moral responsibility for their offices’ wrong-doings and gracefully quit their public offices. Such politicians have become virtually an extinct species. Second is of those who own moral responsibility but remain glued to their offices. They are forced to quit only under public pressure. Third variety is of those who admit their departments wrong-doings but make their officers scapegoats holding them responsible for the lapses. Himachal’s BJP rulers seem to belong to the third variety.

In this season of scams an Anna Hazare has been able to mobilize public opinion against corruption and force New Delhi to take at least symbolic steps to contain corruption. Will the scam-hit states also be able to produce their own Anna Hazare to stem the rot? If they are then they will have to ensure that politicians and also the saffron-draped yogis who have skillfully ventured into corporate world are not able to exploit the peoples anti-corruption sentiment for capturing political stage. The states particularly like Himachal Pradesh which allot valuable lands to so-called yoga gurus will have to be extra careful to avoid becoming a target of public wrath.(IPA Service)