India Foundation gets prime space

India Habitat Centre is a go-to place in Delhi. It’s the meeting point for the country and capital’s who’s who, after the India International Centre and Delhi Gymkhana Club. It’s controlled and managed by the Ministry of Urban Development. The clout of an organisation is evident if it has an office within its compound. The debt-ridden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) had one in Habitat Core 4, before it vacated the premises due to its inability to pay the rent. Opposite to IL&FS is the headquarters of Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), an outfit under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs. Hence, the closure of IL&FS was an opportunity for RIS to expand its workplace. Many member organisations of the Habitat Centre, including RIS, applied, as they could as per the rules, but their requests were rejected. The empty office was given to India Foundation, an RSS-aligned think tank, which is led by Ram Madhav, a BJP General Secretary and spokesperson of RSS. RIS approached Hardeep Puri, the Minister of Urban Development, who informed the Ministry of External Affairs that he received a phone call from the higher-ups (he said, upar se order aayahai) in the government. So, please make a note in your diary that India Foundation will shift from Hailey Road to India Habitat Centre.