Editorial
Why are Gymkhanas and similar clubs built on state land? The question is simple. The answer is uncomfortable. The bureaucracy does not give its own land for these clubs. It gives public land, and on that land it gathers the city’s elite: businessmen, landlords, and the influential few who shape local power.
Private members pay millions of rupees for membership. They are not buying tennis courts or dinners. They are buying access, a seat at the same table as bureaucrats, judges, and senior officials. Bureaucrats, on the other hand, often receive free membership, and their meals and comforts are quietly paid for by those private members. What emerges is an elite enclave on public property, where authority and wealth sit side by side and serve each other.
This is a question of ethics. It is, above all, a question of conflict of interest. The bureaucracy exists to protect citizens from the exploitation of powerful interests. How can it do that while socialising with those same interests in exclusive clubs? How can an officer regulate the man who pays for his dinner?
The model is no longer confined to large cities. Smaller towns now have their own Gymkhanas, and circuit houses have become venues for the same elite gatherings. The pattern repeats. Public land is turned to private use, and the public is left outside the gate.
Let the principle be clear. If clubs are to be built, they should stand on private land, with membership and expenses borne privately. Community centres are a different matter: modest spaces serving the collective needs of a community. A community centre and an elite retreat on state land are two entirely different ideas. One serves the people. The other serves power.
The Bureaucratic Coup examines this issue in detail.
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