The President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has chosen to forego the allotment of accommodation proposed to be made to her as her post retirement home in Pune. A Rashtrapati Bhawan statement said in New Delhi today that the accommodation proposed to be allocated to her by the Ministry of Defence was never indicated as one earmarked for war widows as touted in some media reports.

The statement clarified that the proposed accommodation was to be allotted to her for use as her post retirement residence only during her lifetime with no rights of ownership, transfer lease, etc. However, considering the fact that the issue has got linked with the issue of war widows accommodation by some people, She has decided not to accept the proposal .