Goel rejects report on DDA's change of norm for toy bank

Union minister Vijay Goel today termed as "baseless" a report that the DDA had changed its norms to allot a plot of land to an NGO associated with him, even as the urban body said it was examining the matter.
"The 488-sqm land was alloted to VAES (NGO Vaish Aggarwal Education Soceity) under the socio-cultural category for setting up a toy bank-cum-play centre for underprivileged children. No norm was violated and we followed the entire due procedure," he told reporters here.
"The report is fabricated, concocted and without any facts," he said.
According to the report published in a national daily today, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) changed the norms and layout plan of the plot which was earlier "earmarked for a post office".

"Change of layout plan is a routine activity which is done by the DDA on a regular basis. In fact, as mentioned in the report itself, this plot was recommended for temple construction as one of the 291 cases cleared at a (DDA) meeting in February 2003," Goel said.
A senior DDA official, when contacted, said, "We have taken note of the report and the matter is being examined."

Rejecting the charge, Goel claimed, "The report said I was the vice-president of VAES, but I resigned from that post in 2013 itself. I am not even active in day-to-day activities of VAES.

"Toy bank is a project started for the underprivileged children, and it was formally inaugurated in 2005. Through this project, the NGO has distributed over five lakh recycled toys across 16 states. It is a social work. Why is my name being dragged as a minister here," he said.
At a press conference, the AAP alleged that rules were "altered" by the DDA to facilitate transfer of the plot in Model Town here.
The party also mounted an attack on the urban body alleging that the land was being made available to a BJP minister, but not to the AAP government to carry out developmental work.

AAP's Delhi unit secretary Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed the DDA changed norms, layout plan of the land, initially earmarked for building a post office, and alloted it to VAES.
"From the very start, the VAES-run school, which shares its boundary with this prime plot, had an eye on it," Bhardwaj alleged.
He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and the health secretary had written to the DDA on several instances, asking for land for mohalla clinics, bus depots, but their demand "has not been met yet".
Model Town MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi said that Rs 8 crore had been deposited with the DDA so that a land could be alloted in the area for construction of a hospital to cater to children and women.

"However, we have not got land from the DDA despite several requests," the AAP MLA alleged.