The Indian government's decision to reclaim 27 acres of prime Lutyens' Delhi land from the Gymkhana Club has ignited debate, with some labeling it governmental overreach and others seeing it as a continuation of Prime Minister Modi's agenda to dismantle elite privilege and foster equity. This move aligns with policies like Direct Benefit Transfer and appeals for voluntary surrender of LPG subsidies, aiming to redirect resources from the affluent to the underprivileged. Unlike institutions like the India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, which are membership-based on merit, focus on public engagement, and occupy less prime land, the Gymkhana Club, with its hereditary membership, colonial lease terms, and financial irregularities, is presented as an emblem of outdated privilege. The article further highlights the quiet democratization of awards like the Padma awards, where honourees are increasingly from diverse, unsung backgrounds rather than established networks, signaling a broader societal shift towards greater inclusivity and meritocracy.

The Indian government's decision to reclaim 27 acres of prime Lutyens' Delhi land from the Gymkhana Club has ignited debate, with some labeling it governmental overreach and others seeing it as a continuation of Prime Minister Modi's agenda to dismantle elite privilege and foster equity. This move aligns with policies like Direct Benefit Transfer and appeals for voluntary surrender of LPG subsidies, aiming to redirect resources from the affluent to the underprivileged. Unlike institutions like the India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, which are membership-based on merit, focus on public engagement, and occupy less prime land, the Gymkhana Club, with its hereditary membership, colonial lease terms, and financial irregularities, is presented as an emblem of outdated privilege. The article further highlights the quiet democratization of awards like the Padma awards, where honourees are increasingly from diverse, unsung backgrounds rather than established networks, signaling a broader societal shift towards greater inclusivity and meritocracy.

The Indian government's decision to reclaim 27 acres of prime Lutyens' Delhi land from the Gymkhana Club has ignited debate, with some labeling it governmental overreach and others seeing it as a continuation of Prime Minister Modi's agenda to dismantle elite privilege and foster equity. This move aligns with policies like Direct Benefit Transfer and appeals for voluntary surrender of LPG subsidies, aiming to redirect resources from the affluent to the underprivileged. Unlike institutions like the India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, which are membership-based on merit, focus on public engagement, and occupy less prime land, the Gymkhana Club, with its hereditary membership, colonial lease terms, and financial irregularities, is presented as an emblem of outdated privilege. The article further highlights the quiet democratization of awards like the Padma awards, where honourees are increasingly from diverse, unsung backgrounds rather than established networks, signaling a broader societal shift towards greater inclusivity and meritocracy.

The government’s decision to reclaim 27 acres of prime land in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi from the Gymkhana Club unleashed a tsunami of opinions. Some portrayed it as governmental overreach. Others viewed it as a move against elite privilege, consistent with the Narendra Modi government’s track record.

Levelling the playing field—by boosting support for the underprivileged many while withdrawing special privileges enjoyed by the affluent few—is not new for the Modi government. It has, in fact, become one of the defining themes. Consider the massive rollout of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which has placed money and dignity directly into the hands of crores of poor Indians, while bypassing the leaky, middleman-ridden machinery of the past. In contrast, consider the prime minister’s 2015 appeal to the middle- and upper-class households to voluntarily surrender their subsidised LPG cylinders so that subsidies could be redirected to those who genuinely needed them.

Both initiatives succeeded spectacularly. It is unlikely, however, that the few thousand denizens of the Gymkhana Club would have heeded a similar appeal to give up, of their own accord, prime land leased to them for a song during the British rule. In fact, despite repeated allegations of mismanagement and financial fraud, it had long resisted government oversight until a 2022 order by the National Company Law Tribunal forced greater scrutiny.

The issue was never merely that the club paid a pittance in rent for land now worth more than a billion dollars; though that fact alone should give pause to anyone concerned with equity. In truth, no revision of the lease to a more rational figure would have worked, since that had already been attempted and the club had defaulted to the tune of nearly
Rs50 crore.

The deeper question concerns the kinds of spaces—both physical and metaphorical—a nation should provide to its civil society, especially when that involves largish subsidies from public funds. For the rapidly growing ranks of the affluent, there is no shortage of venues—hotels, restaurants, even clubs—to serve their need to gather and socialise. But, what of those whose contribution to society is more intellectual and moral rather than material? It is precisely for them that institutions such as the India International Centre and the India Habitat Centre exist: centrally located, with subsidised facilities, for those whose worth to society is not necessarily measured by wealth.

There are three essential differences between such institutions and a club like the Gymkhana. First, there is no hereditary claim or advantage in obtaining membership. This is a critical distinction, when availing public subsidies in a democracy, between a feudal or colonial approach and a more equitable system. Second, they are not primarily focused on socialising, but are very active in broader public engagement, debate and exchange of ideas. Third, they sit on far smaller patches of prime land. Taken together, these add up to a vastly higher ratio of public good achieved for every rupee of public subsidy expended.

While the Gymkhana controversy dominated headlines, it is only one of many such initiatives, several of which drew hardly a murmur. Among the most striking has been the quiet democratisation of the Padma awards. In earlier decades, a disproportionate share of honourees emerged from old-boys’ networks, of which the Gymkhana was emblematic. Today, the overwhelming majority of awardees—unsung doctors, tribal conservationists, humble artisans toiling far from the capital—have never heard of the club, let alone set foot inside it.

That is the real shift underway, and it is worth understanding its essence.

Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is National Vice President of the BJP and is an MP in the Lok Sabha.

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