Shakuntala Gamlin writes to L-G Najeeb Jung: Minister Satyendra Jain putting pressure on me

Gamlin herself was at the centre of a storm last week after she was appointed acting chief secretary by Jung despite objections by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The CM had said that Gamlin wanted Jain to sign a letter of comfort which would allegedly have benefitted a discom.

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In her letter to the L-G written in her capacity as principal secretary (industry), Gamlin has alleged that the minister pressured her despite being told that the government did not have the powers to make such a change of use.

On his part, however, Jain said he had asked Gamlin to study industrial areas and “submit a proposal on how they can be made freehold”, and denied any wrongdoing.

An excerpt of her letter says: “The honorable minister, in his capacity as the minister of industry, had been continuously pressing the undersigned in her capacity as principal secretary (industries) to submit a note for the council of ministers proposing therein conversion of industrial plots in the city from leasehold to freehold, even after full facts pertaining to the legal ramifications of the case and that the matter was not within the competence of GNCTD had been brought of the notice.”

The letter also goes on to say that Jain “expressed annoyance in this regard”.

“Somehow in the past, due to oversight or otherwise, some conversion of industrial plots have been ordered in Delhi without the involvement of Delhi Development Authority and the matter is said to be under scrutiny of the Vigilance Department, GNCTD,” the letter reads.

Jain, however, questioned the need for Gamlin to write a letter at all and said that he was merely asking for a study on how to address a problem that had been brought to him several times.

“I was asking for a study on how the move from leasehold to freehold was possible. Where is the question of any pressure? It is only natural that if I am approached by organisations asking for a decision on a subject, the department has to study it and look for solutions. Once that happens, will it not have to go to the Law department to check its legal validity? That is all that I have done in this instance. The officer did not get back to me and instead wrote a letter to another authority,” Jain said.

Bawana Chamber of Industries — which is directly affected by the controversy — urged the government to move towards what it called freehold rights.

“I want to urge the AAP government to not to let us be trapped in this tussle. In Bawana and Narela, industries are on leasehold, mostly small ones with less than 100-metre space. When we bid for this land, nobody said it would be leasehold and we paid everything in full including development tax,” Prakash Chand Jain, chairman of the chamber, said.

He said for the last 13 years, the industrialists have gone to “every minister to get their legal rights” and the AAP government had promised them freehold land. “We approached Kejriwal in his first tenure and he had promised us help. Currently, we operate in Bawana or Narela which has no facilities. We also cannot apply for loans or give our land out for rent or sale,” he said.

Letter exposes govt: BJP

Opposition parties on Sunday criticised the AAP government after principal secretary Gamlin’s letter threatened to spark off a fresh controversy between the government and the

L-G’s office. BJP Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay said after Sunday’s “exposure” of Satyendra Jain’s “efforts to get land use rules for plots changed, it is clear why Kejriwal’s government was so opposed to Gamlin’s appointment as caretaker chief secretary”. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said while his party was in favour of the conversion, the AAP government should “know its limits”.