Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust

Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana

Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) is a flagship program of the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) which "aims to build and strengthen the community institutions of the poor".^[2] It is a rights-based initiative that works for poverty reduction, women’s empowerment and rural development in the backward regions of Uttar Pradesh. The main activity of RGMVP includes organising poor rural women into community institutions in the form of Self Help Groups (SHGs) - each consisting of 10-20 women - that act as social platforms to address issues of financial inclusion, healthcare, livelihood, education and environment. The organisation has "the belief that the poor have a strong desire and innate ability to overcome poverty".^[3]

RGMVP has been designed by RGCT and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with technical assistance from the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) for promotion, credit linkage and federation of SHGs in select districts of Uttar Pradesh.^[4] The programme has been visited by the Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates^[5][6][7] and the British ex-Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.^[8]

Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre

Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre (IGEHRC) was established by the Trust (RGCT) in 2006 to address a requirement for quality and affordable eye care and eliminate curable blindness in Northern India. Currently, two hospitals are operating in Uttar Pradesh: a secondary level facility in Amethi, and a tertiary level hospital in Lucknow. IGEHRC aims "to provide timely and affordable world-class eye care to all segments of society".^[9] Regular community outreach programmes are organised in rural areas to provide quality eye care and to create eye care awareness among the rural population.^[10]

Amethi Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam

In 1983 Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation had taken 65 acres land from farmers to set up a factory by Emperor Bicycle Company in Kauhar village of Amethi. After company failed to set up the factory, instead of returning the land to farmers as per rule, it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in violation of rules. The trust was sued. On 26 August 2015, the local court ordered the Rajiv Gandhi Trust to return the land to Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation.^[11]

Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam

Between 2004-2014, Government of Haryana, then under the administration of Indian National Congress's Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had handed over 1,400 acres of panchayat land to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in the name of public interest use, resulting in this trust being sued by the gram panchayat in Punjab and Haryana High Court against the land grabbing of the Gandhi family by the Hooda government.^[11]

Related land grab scams

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi family are the trustees of National Herald and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. Several similar scams of ownership or land grab related to the entities and family members associated with National Herald and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust are either already in court or being investigated by the CBI.^[11]

• National Herald ownership scam
• National Herald Panchkula land grab scam In 1982, in the related development the Congress government gave the National Herald 3,500 square meters of plot number C-17 of Panchkula in Haryana to publish a newspaper, but for ten years, there was no news published from here, hence as per the rules the land should have been returned to the government, but the ownership was illegally transferred to National Herald by Hooda government in 2013. This case and National Herald's possession of INR 2000 crores worth land are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (c. December 2017).^[11]
• Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam: Between 2004-2014, Government of Haryana, then under the administration of Indian National Congress's Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had handed over 1,400 acres of panchayat land to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in the name of public interest use, resulting in this trust being sued by the gram panchayat in Punjab and Haryana High Court against the land grabbing of the Gandhi family by the Hooda government.^[11]
• Amethi Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam: In 1983 Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation had taken 65 acres land from farmers to set up a factory by Emperor Bicycle Company in Kauhar village of Amethi. After company failed to set up the factory, instead of returning the land to farmers as per rule, it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in violation of rules. The trust was sued. On 26 August 2015, the local court ordered the Rajiv Gandhi Trust to return the land to Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation.^[11]
• Robert Vadra DLF land grab scam: It is a case related to 50-acre land grab in 2013 in Amipur village of Haryana during the Congress' Hooda government. Vadra, Hooda and DLF are being investigated by the CBI (c. December 2017).^[11]
• Robert Vadra Bikaner land grab scam: it is a 275 bigha 2010 land grab in Bikaner of Rajasthan being investigated by the CBI (c. December 2017).^[11]
• Shimla Gandhi family land grab scam: It is a case related to 4 bigha land grab in 2007 in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla. The case is pending in Himachal Pradesh High Court (c. December 2017).^[11]