Hema Malini gets prime Andheri property for Rs.1.75 lakh
Actress turned parliamentarian Hema Malini was allocated a 2,000 square metre plot in Mumbai's upscale Andheri by the BJP-led government in Maharashtra for Rs.1.75 lakh. However, Malini may not pay a single penny for the land which is worth Rs.70 crore. The Fadnavis government had drawn a lot of criticism for this move. Hema Malini plans to start a dance school on this property.
In 1996, Hema Malini had been allotted a plot by the Shiv Sena-BJP government. The actress had paid Rs.10 lakh for this plot. However, she could not utilize the land because it fell in the protected coastal regulation zone. Revenue officials said that because of this, she was compelled to reapply for an adjacent plot of land to start a dance school.
Hema Malini was sanctioned the 2000 square metre land in Ambivli by the Devendra Fadnavis government, 19 years after she had first applied for it. According to the rules, Hema Malini's charitable trust will have to develop a garden with trees on a part of the plot. Malini will get the plot at only 25% of the total cost of the allotted land.
After an RTI query that claimed that Hema Malini had been allotted the land "at the rate of Rs.35 per sq m which comes to Rs.70,000 in total, when its market price could be several crore of rupees", a political controversy erupted. The opposition Congress turned up the heat on the Fadnavis government for unfavourably sanctioning the land to Malini's Natyavihar Kalakendra Charity Trust.
Denying land grabbing accusations Malini said: "I have not paid anything as of now. I will follow all the rules and regulations of the government. Why speculate the price when I don't know myself how much I have to pay...whatever will be the cost I will pay it".
According to the existing policy in Maharashtra "charitable and education trusts are required to pay only 25% of total cost of an allotted land in accordance with rates on February 1, 1976." The collector's office had revaluated the value based on its 1976 value. She'd already paid Rs.10 lakhs in 1977 and so is likely to not pay anything.
