The Adarsh Society Episode

This has been written by a Retired Colonel who has wisely chosen to remain anonymous.

The method of Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society cheats of Mumbai was disarmingly simple. They simply co-opted in their scam whoever looked like standing in the way. If we judge the strategy by its results, it was spectacularly successful. It indeed disarmed everybody. From just 30-odd members, the eventual group grew to more than a hundred. Each new entrant not only removed a roadblock on the way but also increased the size of the cake. Thus, someone got the land title, someone the extra FSI. Someone got clearances, someone else made the Army and the Navy objections softer. They all became members.

The scary bit about the scam is not that it happened. It is that in the entire chain, there was not one man (or woman) who refused to compromise himself. There was not one person whose integrity stood its ground in face of temptation. Right from the lowly collector, to the officials in urban development department and MMRDA, to the ministers and chief minister, everybody proved over-eager to do his bit. About the bureaucrats and the ministers, we always knew. The really sickening part is that it went on all the way to at least three service chiefs. They all sold their souls. No whistle-blower in the entire system. Nobody thought something very gross was under way and he should put his foot down.

And for what? A sea-facing apartment in Mumbai, worth perhaps Rs 8 crore. So there, folks, you have the price of this country. For a combined booty of no more than Rs 800 crore, you could buy the entire system. Our enemies reading about this can now rest their weapons. The message they get is that if they face the mighty Indian Army they only need to wave the allotment letters of a plush apartment.

And lo! The battle is won. If the chiefs go for 1000 sq ft of Mumbai real estate, how much should the poor battlefield commander go for? A Shanghai penthouse, or a cottage in Murree?

I would hate to be a soldier in our armed forces at this moment. The fellow has just seen Lt Generals being prosecuted for land scam. Now, an admiral and two generals are part of a housing scam. He is expected to die on their orders. If, after this, a soldier winces at such an order, can he be faulted? The former chiefs have now graciously offered to return the flats, professing ignorance about the fact that land was meant for martyrs' families. As if that is the only thing wrong about the deal. It was stinking from start to finish and if the chiefs could not smell any of it, the forces have a lot to answer for the kind of persons they select for their top most posts.

No, gentlemen, you have let down the proud institutions you headed. You have let down your colleagues who must suffer the suspicions you have aroused. You have let down your country that decorated you so much. Worst of all, you have let down that soldier who saluted you day in and day out. You owe him an apology, not just a glib explanation. About others, the less said the better. They occupy some of the most plum posts and yet possess all the integrity of a pickpocket. It is no wonder India has climbed further in corruption ladder. Merely dispossessing these scamsters of their ill-gotten apartment would be no punishment. They need to be dismissed from service and prosecuted for being unworthy custodians of our trust......Sochlo ?

Received from a retired Group Capt. I have read many opinions about Adarsh Housing, this one just about sums it up, tragically. Nothing further can be added.  Anant Bewoor.

The views expressed and Information provided by the author are his own and left to public to judge and rationalise for themselves.