We Are The Higher-Ups

riving uphill from Chandigarh to Shimla is no longer the visual treat it was even a decade ago: the endless green hills and dewy mountainsides along National Highway No. 22 are now marked with apartment blocks, shops, expensive cottages, restaurants, resorts and now private universities—all signs of the valuable real estate destination Himachal Pradesh has become in recent years. But this tiny hill state does not take kindly to outsiders buying precious farmland here, much less getting it recategorised for non-agricultural use. This is why recent disclosures about governments arbitrarily granting permission to outsiders with clout or money to purchase and develop land here has created a raging controversy, more so because the names of many vips making such purchases have surfaced.

Leading the list of biggies is Priyanka Gandhi. The last two sessions of the assembly were rocked by the Dhumal government’s largesse to advocate-activist Prashant Bhushan’s educational trust, which has been allowed to purchase 4.68 hectares from a tea estate in the pristine Kangra valley, near Palampur. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was given government land at a throwaway price in Solan district for setting up an ashram and an enterprise to cultivate and market medicinal herbs. The biggest ruckus, however, is about hundreds of acres granted to 11 private universities, eight of them in Solan district. The district, a two-hour drive from Chandigarh and situated at 4,000 feet, has become the prime destination for developers: land prices here have touched astronomical heights.

Baba Ramdev A trust he runs has been given land in Solan district to set up an ashram and a firm that was to cultivate and market medicinal herbs. Its output is zero.. (Photograph by Anil Dayal)

The granting of land to non-Himachalis, for however noble a purpose, is a sensitive issue in this quiet state, which in recent years has come on the radar of grasping real estate sharks catering to the increasing demand of prosperous plainspeople looking for hill abodes. In 1972, the state passed the Himachal Pradesh Land Tenancy and Reforms Act which, among other things, protected the agricultural land of farmers from being transferred to non-agriculturists and outsiders. However, Section 118 of the Act gives the government the power to exempt specified non-agriculturists and outsiders from the provisions of the Act. The grouse is that Section 118, which was framed to allow outsiders to set up industries and power projects, build tourism infrastructure or anything else that contributes to the development of the state, has been used indiscriminately by successive state governments to favour whoever they choose.

Take, for instance, the land allotted to Priyanka in a high-security area close to the presidential summer retreat at Charabra, on the outskirts of Shimla. In 2007, when Virbhadra Singh was the Congress chief minister, she was granted permission to purchase 4 bighas and 5 biswas for residential and horticultural purposes. A cottage came up, but just as it was nearing completion, a structural flaw was detected and it was razed. Soon after, in July 2011, she approached Prem Kumar Dhumal, the new chief minister, heading the BJP government, for the purchase of 1 bigha and 4 biswas adjacent to the first plot. She now has more than an acre when non-Himachalis who wish to own a house in the state are not allowed more than 500 square metres. Dhumal (see interview) considers it a “matter of pride” that a member of the Gandhi family wants a house in the state. His critics say Dhumal’s munificence to Priyanka has much to do with keeping the Congress humoured so that he doesn’t face heat on questionable land deals should the BJP lose power.

Prashant Bhushan Land in Mohal, in the pristine Kangra valley, has been granted to a society he runs. It conducts workshops on policy awareness. (Photograph by Anil Dayal)

In March 2010, Bhushan, as secretary of the Kumud Bhushan Education Society, bought 4.66 hectares in Mohal. The Dhumal government not only cleared the purchase, it allowed change of land-use from tea garden to educational purposes. By providing relaxations of Sections 6-A and 7-A of the HP Land Ceiling Act, 1972, it was made possible for the estate owner, a resident of Kamlehar, Palampur, to transfer tea garden land to Bhushan’s society. These sections stipulate that if land is put to any other use than as a tea plantation without permission from the government, it is deemed to be acquired by the government. Incidentally, this is the only occasion when permission has been granted by the Dhumal government to a non-Himachali to buy tea garden land.

Bhushan has constructed a couple of buildings on it and runs workshops on policy awareness for students. Following allegations in the state assembly that Bhushan’s society is not using the land for the stated purpose, the deputy commissioner of Kangra has issued a notice to the society, asking it to explain itself. Speaking for himself, Bhushan said, “While it is true that the state government has used its discretionary powers arbitrarily in the past, I think they should relax the rules and permit outsiders to buy land in this state. You can protect the interests of small farmers by keeping a check on speculation or set a ceiling on the amount that a person or institution can purchase. As for the tea garden land that our education society has bought, it was a plantation in disuse and most of the tea bushes were dead. We have planted new tea bushes and plan to use it for a small educational institution.”

The Shoolini University campus, both in Solan. (Photograph by Anil Dayal)

ronically, the Congress, which is saying that it will review permission to Bhushan if it comes to power, has itself given permission for three non-Himachalis to buy tea-garden land. Two are trusts run by Tibetans—the Dongyu Getsal Trust, Baijnath, which bought 2.44 hectares, and the Dorjong Monastic Institute and Charitable Trust, Tassijong, which bought 14.33 hectares. Last year, the government gave 19.2 acres on lease for 99 years to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust in Sadhupal on the Kandaghat-Chail road for a paltry Rs 17,31,214. The market price of the land—originally part of the estate of Maharaja Yadavinder Singh of Patiala—is about Rs 2 crore. It was gifted to the government in 1966 and was till recently used by an NGO called Indira Holiday Home. After a long legal battle, the government got back the land and promptly gave it to the Baba to promote yoga and medical research and grow herbs. Amarinder Singh, former chief minister of Punjab and a scion of the Patiala royal family, has alleged that the BJP government of Himachal has gifted the Sadhupul land to the Baba in return for his support to the party. The Baba’s trust, meant to be established with an initial investment of Rs 50 crore, is expected to provide employment to 1,000 people. The government has signed an mou with the trust for sale and marketing of herbs and apple juice concentrate. Rates have also been fixed for purchase of 12 varieties of medicinal plants to be cultivated by the trust. The agreement was signed a year and a half ago, but so far no herbs have been procured. Prakash Thakur, a prominent apple farmer of Kotgarh, says, “What makes us uneasy is when governments use their discretion to give away scarce farmland to outsiders. The process should be transparent and a follow-up should be done to ensure they are using it for the purpose for which it is given.”

In the last two years, the Dhumal government has given permission to 11 private universities to buy huge chunks of prime land across the state using the Section 118 route. Most of these universities have bought land far in excess of their requirements, prompting concerns that, a few years down the line, they could transform into real estate ventures. These apprehensions are fuelled by the fact that eight out of 11 universities are in the prime Solan district and two of them fall in one village panchayat. No thought seems to have been given to maintaining distance between two mega educational institutions. By the government’s own admission, these universities are flouting all norms and running more like shops. Many of them granted admission to students without first obtaining clearances from the government. They have even admitted students who are yet to clear all papers in previous courses. The campuses have poor infrastructure and teachers do not meet UGC and AICTE norms. M. Sofat, a leader of the Himachal Lokhit Party, a breakaway unit of the BJP, says, “This government has crossed all limits in giving away land to outsiders for pecuniary benefits. Land allotment to private universities is a big scandal, as universities gobbled up hundreds of acres belonging to small farmers. When the Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla has been running on 50 bighas, what justifies the purchase of more than a 100 bighas by most of these nondescript universities?” With so many universities concentrated in a small area, some of them are bound to close down—and probably, the land will be used for housing.

A view of Jaypee University. (Photograph by Anil Dayal)

It’s not just universities, hundreds of flats, apartments, villas and cottages have come up in the prime districts of Shimla, Solan and Kangra, with governments granting permission to builders to buy farmland, build houses and sell them to non-Himachalis. Big names like Emaar MGF and DLF are in the process of developing luxury housing in Shimla, allegedly by flouting forest laws. The locals’ anger is not only at this large-scale influx of outsiders through the Himachal Pradesh Apartment Regulation Act 2005, but also the fact that several multi-storeyed buildings have come up on lush green hills in violations of slope and building norms. The perennial water shortage and traffic congestions they cause is wreaking havoc on the hills and local lifestyles.

ast year, the government set up a select committee of the Vidhan Sabha to review the Act; the committee recommended that the Act should be scrapped. The government, though, is still sitting on this recommendation. But more extensive are the benami land deals that have been signed across the state. Biggies from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana are known to have fabulous properties in the state, all bought in the names of locals. One example is a hotel in Manali, and another a farmhouse built on two acres in Kullu by Ajay Chautala, elder son of former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala. After conducting an inquiry, the Kullu deputy commissioner concluded that both properties are in the benami ownership of two Himachalis.

One of the chants raised by the opposition Congress against such sales is ‘Himachal Pradesh For Sale’. But the party knows better than anyone else that, when it was in power, it has done just what the BJP is doing now.