JOIN USA total of 1,620 ‘G’ (government) discretionary sites have been allotted by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) since 1985, when the practice began.
In the initial six years, only artistes, educationists, scientists and officials in the administration found favour. From 1991, public representatives too came into the picture. While former Congress ministers Suma Vasanth and K J George were the recipients of the sites under the MLA quota, Sulaiman Sait was the first MP to get a plot under the quota. The BDA allotments to MPs and MLAs continued till 2010, and later contravening the High Court directive till 2011.
The last such site was given to Rajya Sabha MP Basavaraj Patil Sedam. In all, close to 432 allottees came under the public representatives quota. The highest number of allotments to MPs/MLAs were made in 2009, during the BJP regime, with over 52 being granted sites in the City’s prime localities.
BDA sources said, apart from getting sites allotted to themselves, MLAs also got plots under the discretionary quota allotted to their teachers and close associates over the last 20 years.
In 1998-99, during J H Patel’s tenure as chief minister, close to 14 sites were allotted to the chief minister’s office personnel. In 1998, a driver serving at the Kumara Krupa Guesthouse, as per BDA records, was allotted a site measuring 25x35 sqft in Kumaraswamy Layout. In 2011, a site measuring 30x40 sqft in OMBR Layout was allotted to another driver.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, in December 2012, had observed that BDA allotments under ‘G’ category were made to a number of non-entities, including waiters, housewives and a Mutt seer.
Allotments were also made to Air India and Canara Bank personnel, apart from two others employed in private firms. As per BDA records, till date, only three sites have been returned, including one by Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra, MP from Shimoga.
However, the records still do not identify the background of 45 per cent of the allottees of the 1,620 ‘G’ category site owners.