Mumbai:
In Mumbai, rentals aren't cheap. Not even for Anna Hazare and his team of activists, who are holding a protest camp in the city for three days, starting December 27. To rent out the centrally-located MMRDA Grounds, Team Anna will have to pay Rs 3.77 lakh per day.
That's nearly double the two-lakh figure that they were initially offered by The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Yesterday, the activists appealed to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, to intervene.
Instead, MMRDA authorities say they're obliged to charge more. The earlier offer of Rs 2-2.5 lakhs a day was made on the grounds that this was "a social cause," which allows officials to offer discounted rates. But now, it turns out that the NGO in whose name the rental was sought - Jagrut Nagrik Manch - is not a registered trust. So Team Anna has to pay commercial rates - which works out to Rs 11.31 lakhs for three days.
Through in this period, Anna, who is 74, will fast against the Lokpal Bill that the government will introduce in parliament tomorrow. On December 27, the day when Anna's protest begins, the Lok Sabha will debate the bill. Team Anna says the bill offers no powers to make the Lokpal - a new ombudsman agency - a weapon against systematic graft.