Club for Jawans: Bridging gap between Officers and Men

Club for Jawans: Army's attempt to abolish the relics of British Raj
Ajay Sura, TNN | Sep 3, 2012, 01.45PM IST
CHANDIGARH: In a serious attempt to do away with much of its colonial trappings in the 1.5 million strong 'hierarchy conscious' Indian army, the western command has opened a recreational club for the junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and Jawans-a facility, which was confined to the officers' class till date.
The state of art institute opened last week by chief of army staff, General Bikram Singh, is the first of its kind in the country in terms of standards, where Junior Commissioned officers/other ranks and their families would avail the facilities under one roof such as restaurant, gymnasium, library, cyber cafe conference hall and indoor games.
Development is seen as an attempt to bridge the gap between the officers and others ranks at a time when Army's colonial-era institutions are generating a crisis within its ranks. Earlier in the first week of May this year, the Army had announced that it was considering doing away with the colonial-era practice of sahayak or batmen, where soldiers are assigned to serve as valets.
Importantly, navy and air force had already such facilities for its JCOs/ORs rank but hierarchy-conscious army had not taken any initiative in this concerned and was yet to waken up from the 'colonial way' where white officers were being separated from the local soldier.
The newly opened recreational club at Chandimandir cantonment for soldiers has been named as 'Jadunath Sainik Institute'. Naik Jadunath of army fought the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, where Pak irregular had attacked Indian territories in Jammu & Kashmir. He died in the battle and was later awarded with country's highest gallantry award--- the Param Vir Chakra (PVC). Sources confirmed TOI that army is going to set up more such institutes across the country for its lower rung troops.
Till date, most of the cantonment and cities have institutes/clubs meant for officers only, where officers and their families are members for recreational activities.
Terming the development as 'winds of change' in the army, the defence fraternity is of the view that rule and regulations should change as per change of social and economical changes in the society.
Major General K S Bajwa, an officer of first batch of IMA, commissioned just before the India attained independence, said, "Today's jawan is well educated, more inspirational, having better expectation of life and the move would give them a sense of belongingness".
While terming the move as farsighted with large implications on troops, Gen Bajwa said that it would help in curbing the incidents that has occurred recently creating conflicts within ranks.
Club for Jawans: Army's attempt to abolish the relics of British Raj

Gymkhana Clubs flout land lease rules

Annadale ground dispute with army in Shimla arbitration court
Ravinder Makhaik.
Not being able to dispossess the army authorities from the prized Annadale ground, the district administration has evoked an arbitration clause to resume a property that has been occupied by the army since 1955.
Talking to Hill Post, Onkar Sharma, deputy commissioner said, “Over 130 bighas of land at Annadale ground is under ownership of the government which on paper is recorded to be in possession of Gymkhana Club.”
“A lease signed between the government and the army authorities ended in 1982, and clause 4 in the lease agreement provides for arbitration should a dispute arise. We have evoked that arbitration clause before the divisional commissioner court at Shimla,” he added.
While the district administration has moved court, a signature campaign by the district cricket association (DCA) to get the ground vacated by the army has found tremendous support as over 75,000 till date have signed up.
“Annadale is the only big public ground in the state capital,” says Surinder Thakur, DCA president, “and the army should vacate it as the city desperately needs it.”
The association intends to collect 1 lakh signatures and submit a memorandum to defense minister AK Antony through state chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Relations between the state and the army authorities over the ground usage remain strained for the army even restricts helicopter landing facilities for civilian use on it.
Read more

A closer look at the Gymkhana clubs under scrutiny reveals:
The clubs have lease agreements for a period of 30 to 60 years. Defence lands— often huge tracts given to run the clubs to ensure "betterment of Members including the Garrison Officers". One needs to zero in on the terms and conditions of the lease agreements, which are grossly violated. These are: restricting public entry and use, discriminatory membership practices, non-payment of dues, non-submission of audited accounts and earning illegal revenue by letting out premises for weddings, parties, guest rooms and Guest fees. The Garrison Officers are relegated as second class members. The managements and Governing body owes an explanation to the nation for violating the Rules of the land. Even capital gains taxes are cleverly evaded.
Besides, the management and Governing Body are minting money by hiring out premises without paying a dime for tax. It's nothing but a robbery of citizens' resources, If these conserves of the privileged governing body can be brought to the negotiating table to renew their leases at reasonable rates and made to follow terms, the bigger battle of fighting corruption in high places can be won!

Army hit by clubs

India Today report by Sandeep Unnithan
Two army commanders allegedly colluded with a private developer to hand him seven acres of prime defence land worth Rs 25.50 crore in Pune. A confidential Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) report, a copy of which is with india today, notes that Lt General (retd) B.S. Thakker and Lt General Nobel Thamburaj regularised unauthorised constructions on military land.
The report also holds a director in the Directorate General of Defence Estates guilty of passing decisions that helped the developer continue commercial exploitation of defence land. Lt General Thamburaj succeeded Lt General Thakker as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Army Command, in 2006.
Residency Club, formerly a residential bungalow, built on defence land.
The Army recently court-martialled Lt General P.K. Rath for issuing a no-objection certificate to a private developer at the Sukna military station in West Bengal. There was, however, no transfer of defence land in Sukna. In the Pune cantonment, this alleged nexus between the Defence Estates department and the Army virtually gifted away prime defence land to Ramkumar Agarwal, a private developer and chairman of Citizen Sports and Recreation Club Pvt Ltd. Leased as a private residence, the plot has been turned into a commercial venture, the Residency Club, violating cantonment rules.
The CAG report suggests, the 'old grant bungalow', or a private residence built on defence land, was built in 1940. In 1986, Zarir Cooper, the Holder of Occupancy Rights (HOR), informed the army about a proposal to transfer the land to Agarwal. This was not granted. In August 1987, the HOR once again applied for permission to start a club in the premises, which was once again rejected by the DEO. Defence land rules expressly stipulate that the bungalow can be used only for residential purposes.
The Government can resume ownership of the land after paying the occupant the cost of the building. In 1999, however, the Director General, Defence Estates overruled the deo's objection and okayed the transfer of the property to the private party. The main condition for the transfer was that the Government would hold the title to the land and that the bungalow would be used for residential purposes only. The developer challenged the Government's title over the land in the civil court and began redeveloping the bungalow as a recreation club. The court confirmed the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) title on the land but restrained the Government from interfering with its use as a club. The case remained pending in court.
Armed with the court order, the developer converted the bungalow into the Residency Club and made extensive alterations on the land. As none of these constructions were approved by the Cantonment Board, Pune, notices were issued on Agarwal by the board between 1992 and 2006. The builder appealed against the notices.
In January 2005, he agreed to pay the MoD an annual lease rent. The Defence Estates Department assessed the rent at Rs 79 lakh per year. "Interestingly, no progress was made in this regard by the MoD," the report notes. This inaction cost the Government over Rs 10 crore-Rs 7.91 crore in a one-time premium and Rs 3.8 crore in annual rent since 2005.
The case then went to the appellate authority, Ved Prakash, then director of Defence Estates. Prakash set aside all the notices and stopped the removal of unauthorised constructions. In 2006, then goc-in-c Lt General Thakker regularised the unauthorised constructions on the deposit of a meagre Rs 8.33 lakh. He did this a few days before he retired. In 2006, the Pune Cantonment Board filed a suit in the Bombay High Court against Prakash's decision stopping unauthorised constructions.
In December the same year, a new Cantonment Act passed by Parliament came into force. The Act transferred appellate powers from the Defence Estates Officer to the goc-in-c. In 2007, a notice for unauthorised construction was served on the club. The developer filed an appeal before the goc-in-c Southern Command. This appeal was allowed by Lt General Thamburaj on December 30, 2008, a day prior to relinquishing charge. This decision taken despite the matter being subjudice, virtually regularised the club's illegal constructions.
The report severely indicts the army and Directorate General of Defence Estates (DGDE) for failing to protect Government property. Despite being aware of the builder's intent in utilising the bungalow as a club, the DGDE sanctioned the property transfer. Defence Estates authorities failed to pursue the court case: no hearing was held since 1997. This soft-pedalling only loosened the Government's hold on the land. Despite a decade, the local military authorities failed to finalise the board proceedings that were convened in 1999.
Defence ministry officials say the Pune case is symptomatic of the malaise afflicting cantonments in Lucknow, Delhi and Meerut. "Most of the corruption in these cantonment areas revolves around Old Grant Bungalows," says one official. "Even when leases expire, no effort is made to resume leases on these bungalows," he adds. In several cases, either the land is illegally sold or the usage is changed from residential to commercial with nobody to check.
A CAG report says that three crucial decisions that virtually legitimised the Residency Club's occupation of defence land were issued just a few days before the incumbents either retired or moved out of office.
Bungalow owners allege discrimination by the 'pick and choose' policy of lease renewal adopted by the local army commander, cantonment ceo and Defence Estate officer. "Frequent land scams take place because of the flawed land records kept by a single authority, the Defence Estates Department," says Raghavinder Dass, president of the All-India Cantonment Bungalow Owners' Association.
This new scam to tumble out of the ministry's closet once again highlights the dangers to prime defence land. Last year, the Defence Estates was severely criticised by a Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) report. The report said that the DGDE, custodian of 17,000 acres of defence land worth Rs 20 lakh crore, had failed in all its primary tasks of audit, accounting, acquisition of land and financial management.
The department has been unable to punish its black sheep. One of its officers, A.S. Rajgopal, was promoted twice despite being chargesheeted a few years ago. He retired as principal director of Defence Estates last year. The cda recommended closing down the DGDE. The Government is yet to take any action.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently told Parliament that 11,000 acres of defence land were being illegally occupied all over the country. Antony said that he had asked for computerisation of the DGDE's records. "This is preposterous. Computerisation is being held out as a panacea for corruption," says a senior Ministry of Defence official.
Computerisation of the DGDE's land records has been on for the past five years but the organisation is nowhere near realising a central database. The DGDE has been unable to respond to even basic RTI queries on the size of defence land holdings. With no reform or accountability in sight, defence land scams will continue to stain officers of the armed forces.
Army hit by club scam: click here to read the full story
Related Story in Chennai
Prestigious Chennai Clubs Cheat the Nation: Gymkhana and Cosmopolitan
Indian Military Using Land for Golf Clubs
97 private golf courses on more than 3,250 hectares of defense ministry-owned land- Outsourced to Army Zone Golf- Golf Carts passed off as wheelchairs or noiseless reconnaissance vehicles
AT EASE WITH GREASE
General Deepak Kapoor may seem like a terrible aberration. But BRIJESH PANDEY finds the rot runs deeper in the army. Kapoor has become an object of hatred for armymen and women, serving and retired, with good reason: it is said that he didn’t just pocket a few kickbacks, he allegedly invited the entire evil axis of corruption — politician-contractor-police-bureaucrat — into the office of the army chief. He did this by letting it be known within political circles that he is pliable and ready to use his office to share the spoils. Some officers blame his predecessor General NC Vij for starting the slide. One apsired and another manned the National Disaster Management Agency. What an irony!
AT EASE WITH GREASE-
General Deepak Kapoor a Geek or a Crook- Wikileaks
General Deepak Kapoor- incompetent combat leader and rather a geek. His war doctrine- eliminating China and Pakistan in a simultaneous war front was termed as “much far from reality”- General Kapoor was dubbed as a General who was least bothered about security challenges to the country but was more concerned about milking the system for making personal assets and strengthening his own cult in the army

Comment and Observations
These Club scams are perpetuated by Politicians, Bureaucrats in connivance with the MOD and AHQ. The Sukhna Scam fades into insignificance compared to revenue loss of over hundreds of Crores of Rupees to the exchequer for a period of over 2 decades as black money has been used by vested interests to evade legitimate revenue due to the Government! A closer look at the clubs under scrutiny reveals:
The clubs have lease agreements for a period of 30 to 60 years. Defence lands— often huge tracts given to run the clubs to ensure "betterment of Members including the Garrison Officers". One needs to zero in on the terms and conditions of the lease agreements, which are grossly violated. These are restricting public entry and use, discriminatory membership practices, non-payment of dues, non-submission of audited accounts and earning illegal revenue by letting out premises for weddings, parties, guest rooms and Guest fees. The Garrison Officers are relegated as second class members without voting rights. The managements and Governing body owes an explanation to the nation for violating the Rules of the land. Even capital gains taxes are cleverly evaded. Besides, the management and Governing Body are minting money by hiring out premises without paying a dime for tax. It's nothing but a robbery of citizens' resources, If these conserves of the privileged governing body can be brought to the negotiating table to renew their leases at reasonable rates and made to follow terms, the bigger battle of fighting corruption in high places can be won!

Newsletter from Veekay

Dear Friends,
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year. My newsletter click here.
Vinay and Kumud Singh

Extracts from Veekay Newsletter 2010
The year is coming to an end and it is time for the annual ritual of connecting with friends, acquaintances, comrades and colleagues. I do not recall the last time I sent a New Year's card or a hand written letter. Ever since we started using e-mail, letters have become passé. Until a few years ago, very few people had a computer and one had to write a letter. The advent of mobile telephony has put paid to the art of letter writing altogether. What a pity. I have begun to relish the advantages of being a senior citizen. One can buy rail tickets at a 30% discount. (Women get 50%, but Kumud is still to qualify. Even when she does, I think she would rather pay the full fare than be classified as a senior citizen!). Youngsters, especially girls, sometimes offer you a seat in the Metro. Shopkeepers, parking attendants and handymen address you as uncle, though hardly anyone calls Kumud an auntie, and woe betide anybody who dares...

There is little change in our routine. I go to the gym in the DSOI, which is a stone’s throw from my house, at 0645, returning at 0745 or so. Kumud goes at 0830 and returns only when the gym closes at 1000. By this time I have gone through my newspapers, had my bath and my breakfast and am ready to leave for Signals Enclave, where the Corps History Cell is located. On the days I have a hearing in Tis Hazari or the High Court, I have to give the gym amiss. The Ansal Plaza is next door and Kumud does not miss a movie. She is usually accompanied by my daughter in law or one of her gym buddies. They go for the morning show, when the children are at school and the tickets are cheaper. Twice a week, I too get a chance to go to the mall – it has a Reliance Fresh outlet and buying vegetables is one of the chores entrusted to me.

Land Scam: Swift action by the Army

Army orders probe into Adarsh Society scam, role of officers
NDTV December 11, 2010 22:06 IST
New Delhi: The Army today ordered a court of inquiry into the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai and the alleged role of senior serving and retired officers, including Major General R K Hooda, in it.

"Yes, a court of inquiry has been ordered in the Adarsh Society episode and certainly Major General R K Hooda figures among those who will be examined," a senior officer in the Army headquarters here told PTI.

The Army's Pune-based Southern Command headquarters ordered the probe to find out how these officers had issued a No-Objection Certificate to the private housing society to construct a 31-storeyed complex on a plot in Kolaba.

Maj Gen Hooda was the Mumbai-based Area Commander for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa.

The 104-apartment Society got embroiled in a controversy after the Navy had raised concerns over security as the building over-looked important military installations.
NDTV Report- Read more click here
Related Posts
MoD employs double standards on Land Scams
Exploitation of Defence Lands
Panel pans defence ministry for lax land management
Out of line: an army under fire

Mumbai Mayhem two years ago... 28.11.2008
"They are from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan. They tried to pretend that they were from Hyderabad" Major General R.K. Hooda, leading the military operation to flush out the extremists, told reporters.
India blames Pakistan for Mumbai terrorist attacks

Sample swanky Santushti shopping complex: Troops Welfare?

Rajat Pandit, TNN, Oct 31, 2010, 04.14am IST
With 7,000 sq km, defence ministry owns land equal to 5 Delhis - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Land scams and defence often go together. The defence ministry, after all, owns a staggering 17.3 lakh acres of land around the country. That is little over 7,000 sq km. Or, about the size of five Delhis (new, old and rural) put together.

Defence, railways and ports, in fact, are the largest landowners in India. Yes, the defence land includes airbases, firing ranges, dockyards and other crucial military establishments.

But, from the famous sprawling maidan in front of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, the huge Delhi Cantonment and the Navy Nagar in tony south Mumbai to hill stations like Dalhousie, Lansdowne and Kasauli, MoD also owns some pretty prime property across the country.

So, it's no wonder that all this land attracts gleeful unscrupulous elements, both from within and outside, who are eager to grab, misappropriate or encroach some chunks of this precious commodity.

In fact, a defence minister not so long ago had send shivers down the military ranks by obliquely suggesting the sale of large parts of defence land, with the unstated intention of raking in the moolah.

While the 17.3 lakh acres of defence land is managed by the three Services and other organisations like Ordnance Factory Board, Defence Research and Development Organisation and others, the 1.13-million strong Army is by far the biggest land-holder.

The Army has 13.79 lakh acres under its control and management, while the much smaller IAF has 1.51 lakh acres and Navy 0.37 lakh acres. Of the total 17.3 lakh acres, around 2 lakh acres lie within the 62 cantonments in 19 states. There is even a big Directorate General of Defence Estates for "advisory and executive functions" in matters relating to defence lands and civic administration in cantonments.

Apart from huge land holdings, the armed forces also have veto powers (NOC Syndrome- a tutorial from AWHO spreading its wings) on land sale or construction activities near their stations on grounds of security. Take, for instance, the recent infamous Sukna land scam case, in which four generals were indicted. The case revolved around the alleged conspiracy to aid the transfer of a 71-acre tea estate adjacent to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling district to a real estate developer, who was a family friend of one of the generals.

Then, there are several instances of defence land being misused. The continuing saga of the swanky Santushti shopping complex, the haunt of the rich and the famous just down the road from the PM's official residence in the Capital, is one of the examples.

The latest CAG report slams MoD and IAF for blatantly violating all rules and regulations in managing Santushti, with its 43 shops, which was established by the Air Force Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) on defence land in 1985 with the ostensible purpose to help needy military personnel and their families.

But the "irregular allotment" of many shops to fashion designers, businesswomen and other gliterrati has "defeated the welfare objectives of providing assistance to ex-servicemen, war widows, disabled military pensioners and the like", said CAG. Shades of the Adarsh scam?
With 7,000 sq km, defence ministry owns land equal to 5 Delhis - The Times of India

Gymkhana Club Chennai- hijacked? Military made a scapegoat!

The prestigious Gymkhana Club, sited close to the TN area headquarters, was an exclusive facility for military officers. Until 1920, its membership was restricted to garrison officers only and, even today, the club grounds belong to the armed services. This club is now hijacked by Civilians, Industrialists and Bureaucrats and Garrison Officers reduced to personae non gratae (literally non entities) without voting rights. This is height of bureaucratic arrogance subjected on the defence forces! The Area Commander is made a dummy Patron of the Club to hoodwink the Garrison Officer- Members serving and retired.

Gymkhana Club, Chennai
The then Madras Gymkhana Club was in occupation of 44.13 acres of Defence land in a prime part of the city from December 1977 to November 1986 on payment of annual rent of Rs 3,526. Though a formal lease agreement had not been entered into with the Club till then, the Ministry of Defence sanctioned, in October 1990, the continuance of the lease only in respect of 8.608 acres of land retrospectively from November 1986 onwards at the increased annual rent of Rs.8,608 based on agricultural rates. No lease agreement was concluded even thereafter. Gymkhana Club, Chennai in occupation of 44.13 acres has an outstanding dues Rs 33.10 crores, which has not been recovered over the years.

The DEO, Chennai, recovered rent from the Club up to November 1991. Thereafter, he stopped accepting rent from the Club on the ground that it had resorted to unauthorised construction on the leased land and had also made alterations to the building thereon without the prior permission of the lessor and in violation of the lease agreement.

Audit scrutiny disclosed the following:
The Club had constructed 14 air-conditioned guest rooms, in respect of which rent ranging from Rs 900 to Rs 1,950 per day was levied, a beauty parlour, a Chinese kitchen, ice-cream parlour, etc. It had also sub-let a portion of the land to a bank without the prior permission of the lessor.
Keeping in view the Club’s commercial activities, the DEO had assessed that rent amounting to Rs 33.10 crore was recoverable for the period from November 1991 to June 2001, based on only 2.5 per cent of the land value, as against 5 per cent adopted for determining the rent payable by another club in the same station, that was also involved in similar commercial activities. Government’s approval for revision of rent as proposed by the DEO had not been obtained even after the lapse of over 4 years as of March 2002. The Directorate General of Defence Estates informed Audit in September 2002 that the draft lease for the period from December 1977 onwards and rate at which damages were to be recovered from the Club had not yet been finalised by Ministry.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE: Status of encroached lands

Tailpiece
The MoD in connivance with Politicians have hijacked the prestigious and Exclusive Military Club. The present Committee Members of the club are spinning and reeking in crores of Rupees from membership fees from Industrialists, Bureaucrats and Civilians. The Military Officers are made joker members divested of any honour or dignity in the club! When the Military is fighting for upholding Warrant of Precedence of Military ranks, here we see slew of dishonour bestowed on Military Officers and Retired Officers. Defence Minister should intervene and ensure that dignity of Military Officers are upheld at all forums.