Finally, after seven years the UT administration has fixed the lease amount of Rs 92 lakh per year for the oldest club of the city — Chandigarh Club in Sector 1. The issue was hanging fire since 2010. Currently, the club is paying Rs 1.73 lakh per month, which comes to Rs 20.76 lakh a year.
The new amount, therefore, is a jump of more than four times the current amount. The club has around 8,000 members, so the lease has been calculated at around Rs 100 per month for each member.
Also, as per the lease deed, there will be an increase of 5% every year and the club will share 25% profit with the UT administration of functions, including marriages that have been allowed again. For the past eight years, the administration had banned marriage functions in the club.
UT finance secretary Ajoy Sinha, who headed the panel that fixed the lease amount, said, “The amount has been finalised and now the deputy commissioner will sign the agreement with the club management, which has been instructed to remove encroachments from the premises before that.”
{{/usCountry}}UT finance secretary Ajoy Sinha, who headed the panel that fixed the lease amount, said, “The amount has been finalised and now the deputy commissioner will sign the agreement with the club management, which has been instructed to remove encroachments from the premises before that.”
{{/usCountry}}Sandeep Sahni, president of the club who was also on the panel, said, “We have not received any formal communication from the administration yet. Once we get that, we’ll take up the issue with the executive of the club before signing it.” Others on the panel, that met several times, included the additional secretary (estate) and Mukesh Bassi, a former president.
The lease amount had been revised from Rs 8,000 to Rs 1.08 lakh per month in 2005 for five years. The club paid arrears of Rs 1 crore then. Since 2010, the club is paying Rs 1.73 lakh per month though no lease period was fixed.
Four times and more
1. The lease amount was revised from Rs 8,000 a month to Rs 1.08 lakh in 2005; that is, Rs 12.96 lakh a year
2. In 2010, it went up to Rs 1.73 lakh per month, that is, Rs 20.76 lakh a year; no lease period was fixed
3. Now, the lease amount has been set at nearly four and a half times more than that; that is Rs 92 lakh a year
4. This Rs 92 lakh a year, for ease of calculation, means around Rs 100 per member per month; the lease remains to be signed, though