Ashwariya is riding high on success, fame and marital bliss. And she’s also all set for some social service. Guess what? Daulatpur village in UP is suddenly famous for the 10 bigha plot of land that Amitabh Bachchan purchased there recently. And the Bachchans plan to run a girls high school on that piece of land. And not surprisingly, the school will be called The Aishwariya Rai Bachchan Girls Intermediate College. How’s that for community service?

But if rivals are to be believed, there’s more to the land deal than a simple intent of social service. Most of you would remember the land deal scams that Amitabh Bachchan was caught up in last year. Now the scoop is that senior Mr. Bachchan was interested in this huge 6 hectare farmland in Pune. But the law would not allow the land to be sold to anyone who was not a farmer. So Mr. Bachchan tried to purchase the title of “Farmer” by purchasing land in UP. Mulayam Singh Yadav government would not have any problem with that, right? So fraudulently, government land was sold off to the Bachchans and a certificate bestowing the title of “farmer” was issued.

But when the Maharashtra government initiated an enquiry into the matter, the new UP regime acknowledged the land deal as fraudulent and land had to be given up. But now, by purchasing Daulatpur land and setting up a school there, the Bachchans are trying to prove a point. Amitabh Bachchan is trying to discredit the claims of his rivals that he bought land in UP only to get the “farmer” status.

Now, all this may be true or may be a figment of someone’s imagination. But the girls of Daulatpur village in UP are certainly going to benefit from the whole thing. They will no longer have to trudge 40-45 km to the nearest school. Whatever the reason may be, this is a commendable act by the Bachchan family and nothing should be allowed to take their credit away.

Interestingly, the whole Bachchan family, along with Amar Singh is scheduled to lay the school’s foundation stone tomorrow i.e. 27th January, 2008. Though the whole party had applied for permission to reach Daulatpur by helicopters, they were denied permission by the administration. So tomorrow the Bachchan parivaar will be seen on road to UP. Now who can blame Amitabh Bachchan for making claims about UP without actually being there?