Unauthorised occupation of government properties of Uttar Pradesh
26 May, 2013Reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed that 27 government properties out of 89 allotted by the Uttar Pradesh government to various organisations and individuals are being illegally occupied. According to the estate department of the government of Uttar Pradesh, among those occupying the state government properties illegally are the Rajya Karmchari Sanyukt Parishad, Shramjeevi Patrakar Union, Akhil Bhartiya Kayasth Mahasabha, Uttar Pradesh Bar Council, Yuva Udyog Vyapar Mandal and the Uttar Pradesh Journalists Association. There are other organisations too who are occupying government properties illegally. They include the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh, Minorities Forum of India, Shoshit Samaj Party in New Vidhayak Niwas, Pushpanjali Sansthan, Vir Bahadur Jan Sansthan and the All India Kaifi Azmi Academy.
According to the estate department, the individual occupants include many journalists and senior dignitaries. The individuals listed as illegal occupants include Vidyavati Rajbhar, former member of the Women Commission and Manju Rani Maurya, former member of the Population Commission.
Of all the political parties, twelve political parties have been officially allotted government properties for running their party offices while All India Democratic Congress party has occupied the properties illegally. The twelve political parties who have been allotted government properties for their offices include Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Sanaj Party, Communist Party of India, Lok Dal, Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal etc. The status of the property occupied by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) appears unclear.
The allotment of properties by the government to different individuals and organisations has been criticised as being arbitrary. There is a need to evolve guidelines for the use of such discretion.