Thaindian News

Chandigarh, June 12 (IANS) Even as Baba Ramdev’s numerous trusts come under government scanner, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has asked the Himachal Pradesh government to revoke the lease given to the yoga guru of the land which his family had donated to the government over five decades ago.

Amarinder Singh, who belongs to the former royal family of Patiala, has written to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal asking him to revoke the orders of leasing the 28 acres of land in Sadhupul village to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust.

The yoga guru ended his nine-day old fast Sunday in a Dehradun hospital.

The Sadhupul land was donated by the Patiala royals to the then Punjab government (areas of Himachal Pradesh were then part of Punjab state) in 1956 for setting up the Indira Holiday Home for Children.

The prime piece of land is located mid-way between Kandaghat town and the hill resort of Chail, 120 km from here. It is valued at around Rs.35-40 crore at current market price.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Himachal, headed by Dhumal, had recently given the land to Baba Ramdev for opening a branch of the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust on a 99 year lease on a token amount of just Re.1.

“The Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust is not a charitable organisation, but a profit making company running paid yoga training classes and manufacturing drugs at a commercial scale, which are sold in open market at substantially high prices,” Amarinder Singh wrote in a letter to Dhumal, a copy of which is with IANS.

Singh said: “The specific purpose of donating this land and house was to name this as the Indira Holiday Home to be used by children during summer vacations. The handing over of the land to Mr Ramdev defeats the ultimate idea behind the donation.”

Singh, who is now the Punjab Congress president, pointed out that the land belonged to his (Patiala) family and consisted of a palace called Anand Bhawan.
It was donated by his father (Maharaja) Yadvinder Singh to the Punjab government in 1956 for turning it into the Indira Holiday Home for Children.

“This was acknowledged to Maharaja Yadvinder Singh by the then chief minister of Punjab, Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, in a letter dated April 15, 1957,” Amarinder Singh said in his communication while attaching a copy of the acknowledgement letter from Kairon.

The letter added that thousands of children from all over the state have been spending their summer vacations at this place.

“This has been going on from 1956 until the day this property was handed over to Mr Ramdev for a token lease amount of Re 1 per year for 99 years,” Singh pointed out.

He added: “I am sure you are aware that Mr Ramdev does not fit in this category and by this lease he has denied the use of this property to the children defeating the ultimate idea behind this donation.”

The Congress leader further said: “As it was my father’s wish that this property should be used only by children to spend their vacations, I hope you will revoke this lease deed issued by your government to Mr Ramdev and your government will continue to use it for benefit of children of this country.”

Ramdev launched his protest fast June 4 at Delhi’s Ramlila Ground. After the police crackdown that night, which sparked off country-wide protests, hecontinued his fast in Haridwar where his Patanjali Yogpeeth is headquartered.

(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)