For VIPs,Patna land clearances fast-tracked

On June 17,2011,she was given the allotment.

M/s RFA company of Rahmat Fatima,daughter of Social Justice Minister Parbeen Amanullah and senior IAS officer Afzal Amanullah,applied for a two-acre land in the Bihiya Industrial Area on May 24,2011. The Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority BIADAs Project Clearance Committee PCC took up the matter the same day and cleared it. On June 17,2011,she was given the allotment.

n M/s Devlok Beverages Ltds Director Rahul Kumar,son of Jehanabad JDU MP Jagdish Sharma and a JDU MLA himself,applied for 15,500 sq ft in Hajipur Industrial Area on July 28,2010. On August 13,his proposal was cleared,and he was given allotment the same day.

n The Maitreya Education Trust of which Urvashi Shahi,daughter of HRD Minister Prashant Sahi,is managing trustee,applied on March 9,2011,for a two-acre plot at Export Promotion Industrial Park,Hajipur. The PCC took up this application on March 16 and cleared it. The next day,the allotment was made.

These are some of the details emerging from the recent report of Bihar Chief Secretary Anoop Mukherjee on the alleged scam in BIADA land allotments,in which he has given a clean chit to key politicians whose wards were the beneficiaries. Mukherjee makes a note of the prompt clearances received by beneficiaries with links to the powers that be,but says it is their high qualifications which facilitated the quick allotment.

In case of Rahmat,the report says: It is worth mentioning that Rahmat Amanullah,after having done her MBA,has worked for reputed Mahindra amp; Mahindra for seven years. Rahul Kumar apparently made the grade for his PG in marketing and HR and his two-year experience.

Of the seven allotments scrutinised,six including the three mentioned above were allotted plots within a month of applying. Their applications were cleared at just one meeting of the BIADAs PCC.

Though BIADA norms do not stipulate any time-frame for land allotment,till July 15,2011,over 200 applications were still pending with the agency. Records show about two dozen of these cases had been taken up by the PCC and deferred for the next,while some applicants were shown absent and the forms of others incomplete. In case of 62 who applied for Bhagalpur,no applicant was lucky in having their case cleared at the first meeting. Sixty-four applications are pending in the Muzaffarpur region. The case of M/S High Solid Door,which applied on December 21,2010,was considered on March 16,2011,but no decision has yet been taken.

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The application of M/S Hi-Tech Construction Pvt. Ltd for a plot in Aurangabad,applied on August 9,2010,has been considered by three PCCs and deferred for the next.

BIADA Managing Director Anshuli Arya said: When we get an application filled as per specifications,along with the project report,there is little chance of rejection. We interview entrepreneurs and see their experience and qualifications besides assessing the projects financial viability. He said it was sheer coincidence that Rahmats case was considered the same day. The PCC meetings are organised whenever 10-odd applications pile up,the MD said.

Sushil Modi: Cong,RJD,LJP leaders kin also got land

With the Chief Secretarys report giving a clean chit to BIADA in an alleged land scam,Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi named some Congress,RJD and LJP leaders whose sons and daughters had been allotted plots in the past. The Opposition responded by demanding a CBI probe into the 2,000-odd land allotments made by BIADA since 1974. The Congress said it would stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Thursday.