more-in Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday hit out at the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for changing its layout plan to allocate land to an NGO that is closely associated with Union Minister Vijay Goel. Mr. Kejriwal tweeted that the DDA had been ignoring the Delhi government’s demand for land for setting up of mohalla clinics despite repeated requests. “It pains me dat Delhi Govt not being given land 4 setting moh clinics. Even Del Govt’s own land not being allowed for moh clinics n this..[sic],” the Chief Minister tweeted. He also provided a clipping of a media report which claimed that the land allocated to Mr. Goel’s NGO was originally meant for setting up of a post office. Media report The report said that in January 2014, soon after Mr. Goel became a Rajya Sabha member, the NGO, Vaish Aggarwal Educational Society (VAES), in which Goel is shown to be the vice-president, and his son Siddhant and daughter Vidyun as members, sought land from the DDA to set up a toy bank in Derawal Nagar. AAP’s Delhi spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said a branch of the Aadharshila schools run by Mr. Goel’s NGO was adjacent to the DDA plot, which was supposed to have been allocated for the construction of a post office. The NGO, however, has been eyeing the land to convert it into a playground for the school. “One of the gates of the school opens into this plot, which is completely developed and being used as a playground of the school. A scrutiny of DDA documents has revealed that all rules of land allocation were ignored while allotting this plot to the NGO,” Mr. Bharadwaj said. The media report said that the allotment request was cleared despite the lack of a valid sponsorship letter. “Instead of asking the VAES to provide a valid sponsorship letter, the DDA requested the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to ‘consider the application’ and furnish ‘sponsorship/recommendation for allotment of land’ in the prescribed format, adding that ‘this may please be treated as urgent’,” the media report read. Requests in vain Mr. Bharadwaj alleged that despite repeatedly writing to the DDA and its the then chairperson Najeeb Jung asking for land to build mohalla clinics, no response had been received. The DDA is also yet to allot land for the construction of DTC bus depots, despite assuring the High Court and the National Green Tribunal in the matter, Mr. Bharadwaj said. The party also demanded that the BJP respond to the allegations.

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