Hema Malini's proposed dance school was allotted a 2,000-square-metre plot in the heart of Mumbai.
Hema Malini's plans to start
a dance academy on a plot of land in Mumbai's much-in-demand Andheri area have been described by an RTI activist as "land-grabbing".
Hema Malini, a former actor and trained Bharatnatyam dancer, belongs to the BJP and is a parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh. A month ago, the Maharashtra government allotted
a 2,000-square-metre plot Andheri in the western suburbs of Mumbai for her proposed dance school.
According to documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activist Anil Galgali, Hema Malini was allotted the plot worth crores of rupees for just Rs 70,000 - that's according to the market value in 1976, used by the government to sanction land for any building for arts, education or culture. The land is worth at least Rs 50 crore, according to some estimates.
Eknath Khadse, the Revenue Minister, said today that in 1997, Hema Malini had been allotted land for her project but was unable to develop that because of environmental laws.
Hema Malini had been allotted land for her project first in 1997, the government has said.
She was then assigned a plot in Andheri in 2010 by the Congress-led government. Though the area was meant to be reserved for a public garden, Mr Khadse said the rules were changed.
The BJP-led government has followed through on the commitment made by the previous government, the minister added.
"Why did she not return the older plot and then take a new one?" Mr Galgali told NDTV.
The dance school's proposal estimates an overall cost of Rs 18 crores, and the activist claims that Hema Malini, 67, has not been able to prove that she has 25 per cent of that money, as required by land rules.
In 2013, a plot of land, also in Andheri, was controversially given at basement-bargain rates to Congress leader Rajeev Shukla for a trust run by his television production company. The then Congress-led government was forced to cancel the allotment because of the controversy that followed.