Pratibha gives up Pune retirement home

NEWDELHI,APRIL  28: President Pratibha Patil wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about her decision not to move into what would have been her post-retirement accommodation in Pune. Her office said, she was “pained” at allegations of her taking over land meant for “war widows” and “distortion of facts by the media.” A controversy had broken out over the choice of land, owned by the Defence Ministry, and the scale on which the residence was being readied. An organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune had claimed that two British-era buildings would be knocked down to accommodate the building. Also, it said, the land was earmarked for war widows, an accusation the President's office claimed “led to a spiralling media attack.” The President's Office said: “She is deeply pained by the allegations about the land-grab. The negative reports about her post-retirement home were distressing and she has decided to forego her accommodation in Pune.” “The President has not decided yet where her post-retirement home will be. She has just written to the Prime Minister her decision to forego the Pune accommodation,” an official said.