A Change of Land Use (CLU) file for the proposed Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalion headquarter at Nuh’s Indri village in Haryana has been pending for the past two years but was cleared within a day after the violence erupted in the district during a religious rally on July 31. Sources said that an early sanction for a battalion of the RAF, which got its formal sanction from the Central government in 2018, would have helped the police immediately to maintain law and order. It is learnt that Gurgaon MP and Union Minister of State (MoS) Rao Inderjit Singh was pushing for clearing the file for the past eight years and the state officials geared up on July 31 after Singh raised the issue with Union Minister Amit Shah. Subsequently, the Centre asked the state to clear the hurdles with immediate effect. Finally, the state Town and Country Planning Department granted the CLU file for the RAF Battalion headquarters on August 1. The state department had sought CLU fee for converting the agricultural land for the RAF camp complex in March 2021, though the force had sought a fee waiver. When asked about the delay in granting CLU for the RAF battalion, a senior officer Friday told The Indian Express that earlier, there was no consensus on which department will pay the CLU fee of Rs 40 lakh. “The Town and Country Planning Department could issue the CLU when some department is ready to pay the charges. Soon after the violence in Nuh on July 31, the senior officers of the Haryana government discussed the issue and it was felt that the state Home Department should pay the CLU charges as the land money of Rs 28 crore was earlier paid by the state police, which comes under the home department. After a clarity over the charges, no delay was made in issuance of the CLU for setting up the RAF battalion. Other related issues will also be resolved soon.” On October 4, 2022, Singh wrote to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar pointing out how Gurgaon’s adjoining district Nuh is among the state’s most sensitive districts highlighting the violence during previous Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and panchayat polls. Singh had referred to a previous incident of communal clashes when the anti-social elements had prevented the police from helping the victims by blocking the valley of Tauru a few years ago. “The police could reach to help the victims only after several hours,” the union minister added. “There are many such examples when the police turned helpless in the absence of sufficient numbers of personnel and the anti-social elements dominated the police. Keeping in view of such incidents, I had urged the Union Home Ministry to set up permanent units of CRPF or other central forces in Nuh district,” he stated in the letter. Expressing his displeasure over the delay in the execution of the proposal, the union minister noted that the Union Home Ministry has approved the permanent deployment of CRPF (RAF) and the Haryana government identified 50 acres of land at Indri village. “This work has not been completed despite its approval in 2018…the officials of CRPF (RAF) have been meeting with the officers of Haryana government in connection with the problems being faced in setting up this centre, but the solution could not be found,” he wrote in the letter. While referring to the demands of the Central force, Singh said that they want a waiver of the CLU fee on the basis of an argument that the centre is being set up keeping in view of the demand of the public representatives, public and for the safety of people. According to the union minister, the RAF officers also wanted electricity and drinking water facilities for 2,000 jawans and their family members there, apart from a special service road linked to the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway to allow unhindered movement of their vehicles. He said that the unit of the central force will benefit Palwal, Faridabad, Rewari and adjoining areas of Rajasthan apart from Nuh in emergency situations. On its part, the officers of RAF too kept writing letters to the officers of the Haryana government while seeking solutions to the pending issues and waiver of the CLU charges. In May, the union minister held a meeting with state government officers to discuss several issues, including that of the RAF battalion. State Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal, on the occasion informed him that the CM wanted to resolve the pending issues on priority by the departments concerned. In the meeting, Nuh deputy commissioner stated that the central force expected the state to provide “the services free of cost” to RAF. Kaushal directed state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) T V S N Prasad to “sort out the matter regarding Indri camp”. While granting approval for the CLU on August 1, state Town and Country Planning Department Director General T L Satyaparkash wrote to the RAF Commandant Officer Rakesh Kumar Singh, stating: “Permission for setting up of RAF Battalion HQ over an area measuring 49 acres 7 kanal 13 marla in the revenue estate of village Indri, district-Nuh is hereby granted after approval to deposit an amount of Rs 20,21,730 on account of scrutiny fee and Rs 20,21,730 on account of conversion charges by additional secretary to government Haryana, home department and subject to condition that you shall construct the building as per building bylaws and maintain the setback.” In the same letter, district town planner at the headquarters Lalit Bazad mentioned that a copy of the same is forwarded to additional chief secretary (home) with a request to deposit the amount of Rs 40 lakh.
