Task force chief in Bangalore defends his stand, rejects allegations

The report released by the Task Force for Recovery and Protection of Government Land created a political storm.

Revenue minister G Karunakara Reddy’s decision to reject the report and question the propriety of the Task Force chairman V Balasubramanian releasing the report to the media has drawn sharp reactions.

In an exclusive interview to Srikanth Hunasavadi, Balasubramanian defends his actions.

What is your take on revenue minister’s remarks that you flouted established procedure?

That is just not true. Just because the report is anti-government, the minister has been accusing me of violating norms. Being a senior bureaucrat, I know protocol well. There was no dissent from other members.

A copy of the report was given 15 days earlier, and except for a request from the Lake Development Authority to alter one sentence, there was no dissent. In fact, all the members praised me for the good report.

The minister’s allegations are baseless. The copy of the report was given to all high-level government officers, including the state’s chief secretary, SV Ranganth.

What about the allegation that the Task Force did not visit districts?

The Task Force conducted meetings with district commissioners in all the four divisions. It visited 14 districts, and made several site visits, except in the ‘Republic of Bellary,’ where members feared a threat to their lives. We received 1,600 complaints. Twenty-nine spot inspections were undertaken.

How can the minister say the task force has not visited the spots? These allegations are being made just to stymie the report.

Are you satisfied with your job?

No. The state government’s non-cooperative attitude and frequent transfers of efficient officers were hurdles, and we could not function like we would have liked to.

Some straight forward and efficient officers like V Madhu, Harsha Gupta, Naveen Kumar Singh, Sathyavati and Asha Parveen tried to help the task force in the attempt to recover public land, but the state government, by transferring such officers frequently, has not allowed them to work. As a result, in two-and-a-half years, we only recovered 4% of the total encroached 12 lakh acres of public land.

Did political meddling hamper work?

Before appointing me the chairman of the task force, the government assured full cooperation. After that, it showed little interest. When we tried to remove encroachments in Chikkamagalur, the chief minister himself stopped us.

When our Task Force planned to visit Kolar and Chikkamagalur, the CM’s office tried to prevent us. Too much political interference prevented the Task Force from going full blast.