ACB

RTI

Anti-Corruption Bureau

Bengaluru

Ashraya

Rajiv Gandhi

Pallavi Akruthi

Housing dept tellsto probe land-grabbing in MadhuranahosahalliWhen Raghu Rangaswamy, an investment banker-turned dairy farmer, filed anapplication seeking a small piece of information about a layout formation plan in Madhuranahosahalli village, little did he know that he was opening a Pandora’s Box.For a year, he hopped between government departments, meeting officials only to discover that the whole layout plan was a cover-up for local politicians to grab land reserved for the poor/homeless.At least 160 sites were being allotted by local gram panchayat representative to those who were nowhere associated with being ``homeless.’’. Finally, the housing department has written toto register an FIR, investigate the land-grabbing case and initiate action against erring officials and fake beneficiaries.Interestingly, the trigger for Raghu’s excercise was something mundane —trenches dug up in front of his farm, thus cutting off access to the road. And when a former GP chief demanded money to provide access, Rangaswamy decided enough was enough.The land, around 10 acres in Madhuranahosahalli village under Doddaballapura taluk, is in front of Rangaswamy’s dairy farm. An investment banker in Dubai, Rangaswamy returned to the city to look after the dairy farm after his father’s demise. The farm’s location is such that, a patch of government land (gomala, where cattle grazing happens) is between his gate and the main road. One fine morning last year, huge trenches were dug up in front of his gate and access to main road was cut off. After enquiries, the then gram panchayat allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh to get access to the road.He approached the local gram panchayat office for the layout formation plan; he was directed torural zilla panchayat’s office. With no response coming, he filed an RTI. After a year, he got the reply: the land was getting allotted as 160 sites in the name of, a housing department scheme for the homeless.When Rangaswamy went deep into the beneficiaries’ details, he found that they were nowhere close to being homeless. The former GP head even constructed a house on the land.“It was a gomala land which were being allotted by gram panchayat members. The tahsildhar, assistant commissioner did not take any action. I approached Munish Moudgil, who was then the managing director ofRural Housing Corporation, who helped me the most. He gave his opinion on the issue and wrote to Bengaluru rural zilla panchayat CEO about the land grabbing attempt. IAS officer, who is with DPAR vigilance, also pursued my case,’’ says Rangaswamy.“It was a clear case of land grabbing. Government sites are meant to be allotted for the homeless. Raghu has ensured that the issue reached the logical end,” saidMunish Moudgil, who now heads the the survey, settlement and land records department.