Pune: Poona Club membership issue questioned by RTI activist

Indian Express: Pune: Monday, 22 February 2016.

The government’s norm of giving membership to at least 15 revenue officials to Poona Club has been questioned by Pune activist Vishwambhar Chaudhari after having received details in a Right to Information (RTI) application last year.

Chaudhari wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last November stating that such rules amount to corruption but received no response from the government. He has asked for a thorough investigation into the matter. With the government leasing land to the Poona Club in both Bund Garden Road and Yerawada, the lease rules have mentioned that revenue officials should be given membership.

The government in their terms and conditions of renewing lease in 2011 had set terms and conditions for giving membership to revenue officials and again in 2013 they had reinforced that these officials should “enjoy all the facilities provided to the club members,” said Chaudhuri. He said that earlier apparently the membership was only five and were limited to those posted in Pune for three years.

“This kind of order compelling a private institution to give membership amounts to corruption,” stated Chaudhari in a letter to the CM, a copy which is with The Indian Express. He said that he has been following up with the state government and has been told that the file was pending with the Home Department.

From 1996, the Poona Club has been accommodating five members of the revenue department as permanent members and in 2011, the government made it mandatory to give membership to 15. While they have been doing so, it is only in the last two years that the said membership has been put on hold with the lease renewal till 2037 getting delayed, said present chairman of Poona Club Swastik Sirsikar.

Chaudhari claimed the government officers were offered membership at concessional rates while the actual membership is nearly Rs 30 lakh for a life member and Rs 20 lakh for a permanent member.