Author: Jagdish Bhatt
Publication: The Times of India
Dated: August 25, 2007
The 'Retreat', the summer home of the President
of India in the scenic woodlands of Charabra near Shimla, is ready to receive
a new neighbour. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is eyeing a fourbigha land near the
presidential retreat for a summer getaway of her own.
Himachal Pradesh revenue secretary D S Dogra
said the state government has received an application from Priyanka seeking
its permission to buy a piece of land. According to section 118 of the state's
Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, outsiders, even Himachalis who are not farmers
are banned from buying land in the state. But for Priyanka, the daughter of
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government
has waived the condition.
"The Vadra family is now free to purchase
the land it has in mind in Shimla," said Dogra. The state government
is fully competent to waive the condition and there have been several such
cases in the past, he added.
Sources said the Vadra family made at least
two trips to Shimla in the past two years and had seen places on the outskirts
of Shimla for a suitable land that could be made into a summer home. "They
have been eyeing Mashobra and Charabra areas, about 10 km from Shimla, and
have now finally settled for Charabra," the sources said. The land in
Charabra is about four-and-half bighas and located near the 'Retreat', they
said. The land is owned by "private persons", sources added.