BJP-ruled MCD is planning to build an illegal parking and commercial complex on 4,115 square metres of school land on Bank Street in Karol Bagh
BJP-ruled MCD shut the school down in 2019 and then planned a parking project in connivance with the private mafia: Vishesh Ravi
Such projects can be started on this land only after the DDA changes its land use; but MCD put out the tender without changing its land use: Vishesh Ravi
Prior to Corona, approximately 800 children attended that school; however, the students also left after BJP created a lack of teachers: Vishesh Ravi
Children from low-income families attend government schools to educate themselves; if schools are closed in this manner, where will they go?: Vishesh Ravi
Not children, but vehicles are studying in MCD’s schools; parking has begun there even before the tender: AAP
A three-story commercial complex will be built inside the school, with 700 vehicles parked within the complex
Outside the school is the famous Bhagwati Market; on the morning of November 20, 2021, MCD forcefully shut all 45 shops there- AAP
The shopkeepers’ situation was already bad due to Corona, but MCD’s greed has snatched bread from them today, forcing them to immolate themselves: AAP
NEW DELHI:
In another vicious display of bigotry, the BJP-ruled MCD is preparing to sell away school land to pocket money. AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi informed that the MCD is planning to build an illegal parking and commercial complex on 4,115 square metres of school land on Bank Street in Karol Bagh. AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi stated — BJP-ruled MCD shut the school down in 2019 and then planned a parking project in connivance with the private mafia. Such projects can be started on this land only after the DDA changes its land use; but MCD put out the tender without changing its land use. Prior to Corona, approximately 800 children attended that school; however, the students also left after BJP created a lack of teachers. Children from low-income families attend government schools to educate themselves; if schools are closed in this manner, where will they go? According to Ashok Dutta, Treasurer of Samman NGO, in the classrooms of MCD school, not children, but vehicles, are studying, and parking has begun there even before the tender. A three-story commercial complex will be built inside the school, with 700 vehicles parking there. Bhagwati Market President Harjit Singh said, we have shops outside the school, but on the morning of November 2021, MCD closed all 45 shops and told us to go somewhere where an accident could happen at any time. Our situation was already terrible due to Corona but MCD’s greed has stolen our bread today, and we are forced to self-immolate.
AAP Senior Leader and MLA Vishesh Ravi stated, “Many heritage properties and many commercial properties in Delhi have been sold by MCD in the previous few months. Now the limit has been crossed such that North MCD is ready to sell the building and land of schools. This is the case in Karol Bagh, where two municipal schools, one for girls and one for boys, were operating on a plot of land about 415 square metres above Bank Street, Ajmal Khan Road in Karol Bagh. Both of these schools were open before the Pandemic in 2020, and children from the neighbouring towns came to study. When the pandemic broke out, the owners of the showrooms in Karol Bagh colluded with MCD authorities to develop a parking area here by closing the schools and selling the buildings. North MCD already has three parking spots available at Karol Bagh: one in Shastri Park, one on Pusa Road, and another nearby. Because these three locations were so far away from the market, the huge showroom owners who were sitting there worried that if these parking lots were erected far away from the market, they would not be able to profit off of the people who came there.”
He added, “The showroom owners and MCD officials devised a strategy to solicit bids solely for this site out of the total of four, and then to construct parking areas here. Schools had been operating here for years, and approximately 800 students were enrolled before the epidemic. Those children’s names were gradually removed from the schools’ rolls under the pretext of a pandemic, and it was claimed that it was impossible to run the school here owing to a lack of teachers. If there is any land set aside for educational purposes, you cannot build another project in that area without the authorization of the DDA. However, the MCD did not have the land-use status changed in this case. They intend to build a space for roughly 500 vehicles, but in their tender, they stipulate that the parking space will only be for 300 vehicles, and the rest of the area will be used for a shopping complex. People are complaining, and they claim that under the Right to Education Act, arrangements should be made for children to be educated in schools close to their homes. North MCD has also infringed on the right to education by selling school land. If government schools are closed in this manner, they want private schools to be supported since the children who were previously enrolled in these government schools will now be required to attend private schools. After the Pandemic, we know that no ordinary person has the financial means to send their children to private schools, thus, this type of scheme is completely inappropriate. This is wrong on all three grounds of law, policy, and humanity. We vehemently oppose it.”
He continued, “MCD claims that they need to complete this project in order to pay their employees’ salaries. But, if we begin distributing salaries in this manner by shutting children’s schools down, what will happen next? Will these individuals sell the civic centre too in order to pay their salaries? If any property needs to be sold, a list of Bharatiya Janata Party officials who served as mayors for 15 years should be made. Make a list of those officers who have sat in the commissioner’s chair for 15 years; today, the general public is suffering as a result of their incapacity, which is deplorable. If the land is to be sold to pay salaries, the personal properties of BJP leaders and corrupt officials should be auctioned off instead of closing schools. The residents of Karol Bagh are outspoken in their opposition, claiming that this land does not belong to BJP leaders or mayors, but rather to the people of Delhi. If anything is done with this land, it must be for the benefit of the people of Delhi and their progress. The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the MCD halt this illegal project immediately. Karol Bagh residents are prepared to demonstrate in the streets and in court.”
He concluded, “There are stores near the school called Bhagwati Market that have been there for nearly 50 years. Hindu families were given shops when India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1948 so that they could support themselves. All 45 shops pay tax. Despite this, the corporation’s officials arrive one morning and close the shops. Those shopkeepers have now taken to the streets. They are struggling to put food on the table. A video of these shopkeepers protesting and threatening to commit suicide if MCD does not reverse its judgment was released just three days ago. This is the situation in the country’s capital today. The BJP-ruled MCD should be embarrassed of itself.”
South MCD Leader of Opposition Prem Chauhan said, “For the past 15 years, the BJP has been involved in corruption. But what they’re doing today is abominable even by their standards. Do the BJP’s leaders have any idea what’s going on in the corporation? While still in power, the BJP is making extremely autocratic decisions. They closed 29 schools in the South MCD last week. We will have a separate press conference to discuss how many schools MCD has shuttered in the last five years. After all, how long do you think you’ll be able to make money by selling Delhi’s schools? With barely three months to go, the people of Delhi are going to vote the BJP out of power. We all know that after independence, regardless of which governments are in power, there are vacant properties in various colonies that might be used for schools. The BJP, on the other hand, is closing the ready-made schools. T Then they made money by renting parking spaces to the private mafia. After that, they earned money through parking tenders. They’re now making money by selling schools in cooperation with the private mafia. The BJP-ruled MCD is robbing children of their right to education. The BJP should get over its inferiority complex and at the very least not jeopardise the children’s future.”
Ashok Dutta, Treasurer of Samman NGO, said, “When I went to the Karol Bagh school, I was astounded to see motorcycles parked in the classrooms. For the first time, I noticed car parking at MCD’s school. The same place said ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’ at the same school. Motorcycles are being taught in school classrooms instead of children. This school was founded in 1947. Car parkings are not permitted on Karol Bagh lands. MCD closed this school on April 1st, 2019 as a result of this conspiracy. There are 43 large trees in this area that will be felled immediately. Prior to this election, MCD stated that 500 vehicles would be parked there. Currently 370 vehicles are parked there. There will be 500 parking spaces on multiple levels. It is possible that they have already awarded the contract to park the vehicles. That is, from now on, more than 500 vehicles will be stationed there. They claim that car parkings will be built there, but in reality, MCD plans to construct a three-story commercial complex. As a result, 700 vehicles will be parked within the complex. On the way to school, there is already a lot of traffic. Traffic will be heavier as a result of this complex. MCD has not obtained permission for this.”
President of Bhagwati Market Association Harjit Singh said, “Hindu refugees who managed to flee Pakistan in 1947 got kiosks built in various locations at the time. The MCD took all of the kiosks in 1973 and gave us this plot outside the school’s boundaries. Since 1973, we have been filling leases for this purpose. Now they have sent us an illegal notice from the High Court stating that all of the shops must be vacated within four days or else they will be demolished. On the morning of November 20, 2021, they sealed all the shops so that they could get us to sign a letter stating that all of the shopkeepers are moving to another location of their own volition. At gunpoint, they forced 45 shopkeepers. They broke the seal in the evening. There is a sewer beneath the area where we were sent. They want us to take ourselves there. Who will be held accountable if an accident occurs there tomorrow? They came back on the 4th and sealed our shops again, which are still sealed. We asked them why they had sealed our shops, and their response was that you are not listening to us, and you are not going to the location that we have mentioned, so the shops have been sealed. We’re on the road today. Our situation was already dire due to Corona, and now MCD’s decision has robbed us of our bread. We are being coerced into committing suicide.”