Cops occupying Kisan Bhawan for 24 yrs, for free

Bathinda, July 25
The security personnel of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal seem to have made Chandigarh’s Kisan Bhawan their permanent abode, while Punjab Police officers have encroached upon kisan rest houses in the state. The security personnel are neither paying any rent nor vacating the Kisan Bhawan rooms.
The result: Farmers have to look for space elsewhere in the state capital. NSG commandos posted with the Chief Minister are occupying Kisan Bhawan rooms since November 2, 1992. They had demanded these rooms for only two days, but have been putting up there since then.
According to information procured from the Punjab Mandi Board under the RTI Act, 36 police personnel (one Deputy Commandant, five inspectors and 30 constables) have been staying in Kisan Bhawan for the past over 24 years. The Deputy Commandant (SP-rank official) is staying in a deluxe room, whereas 35 other employees have occupied five dormitories. According to the Mandi Board authorities, the outstanding rent for the accommodation occupied by these officials is around Rs 1.26 crore (from November 2, 1992, to June 30, 2015), but not even a single penny has been paid so far. On July 16, the Kisan Bhawan deputy general manager wrote a letter to the Punjab DGP demanding payment of rent, but to no effect, so far.
The rent works out to be around Rs 1.19 lakh a month (Rs 14.28 lakh a year). Before September 2010, the rent used to be Rs 17,600 per month, but after that the board started calculating rent as per commercial rate. The police personnel are also enjoying free electricity. Earlier, even the beddings of the board were also being used by them. A senior board official said, “We have to sometimes refuse accommodation to farmers as some rooms have been permanently occupied by police officials.”
Kisan Bhawan earned Rs 7.4 crore over the past seven years, while its spending stood at Rs 7.63 crore. Around 3.68 lakh persons stayed at the bhawan during that period. The board paid Rs 1.47 crore towards electricity charges during that period.
The Khanna farmer rest house in Punjab is also under occupation by police officials for the past three decades. The rent calculated is Rs 1.75 crore. The farmer rest houses at Raikot, Mehal Kalan, Dharamkot, Sardulgarh, Maur Mandi, Sunam and Amloh have also been occupied by DSPs without paying any rent. A DSP is occupying the farmer sarai at Malout for the last 18 years, whereas a police station is functioning from a Mandi Board building at Khadoor Sahib. Police personnel are staying at the district mandi board office in Bathinda for over 15 years and rent due is around Rs 65 lakh. The Jaito police station is also functioning from the old market committee building, while several other civil administration offices are operating from Mandi Board buildings.