LS Speaker presides over two houses
Sowmya Aji
New Delhi, November 16, 2009
Efforts to provide MPs and ministers with government houses have been
hampered by a select few politicians who have defied the rules to hold
on to such accommodation.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad
have been allotted two bungalows each in the Lutyens Zone even though
there is a queue for similar houses.
The result - when austerity measures are expected to be the norm, the
Centre is forced to cough up crores of rupees in hotel bills for those
who cannot be allotted a house.
The Centre has already spent Rs 3,71,55,975 to Samrat and Ashok hotels
between May to July to house several Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs for
want of official accommodation.
These details were furnished by the government in response to RTI
applications by activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal.
While the government is struggling to house MPs and much has been made
of excesses such as External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his
Minister of State Shashi Tharoor's five star stay, the special
treatment given to the Speaker and the health minister has escaped
attention.
While the Speaker stays at 20, Akbar Road, which is the designated
Speaker's house, she has also been allotted 6, Krishna Menon Marg.
This came to light through a reply by the Central Public Works
Department (CPWD) to another RTI query by Aggarwal on November 3.
Ironically, only 10 days earlier, on October 23, the Directorate of
Estates had said the allotment of 6, Krishna Menon Marg to Kumar was
"under consideration". This "second" house had been the residence of
Kumar's father, the late Jagjivan Ram. She was allotted the house as
MP and minister, but she reportedly wants to convert it into a
memorial for her father.
However, as per the Centre's policy, no memorials are being set up.
"She is holding on to two houses when she is entitled only to one.
There is no one living at 6, Krishna Menon Marg and it just houses a
statue of Jagjivan Ram," Aggarwal said.
Health minister Azad also occupies two government bungalows - 5, South
Avenue and 7, Akbar Road. The CPWD confirmed this in a reply to
Aggarwal on November 4.
The Akbar Road house, however, has the name plate of Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is no longer an MP. Sources said
that Azad stays at 5, South Avenue, which was given to the J& K
government in lieu of a historic house on Kotla Road which the CPWD
demolished.
The Akbar Road house is the one allotted to him officially, as minister and MP.
According to rules for allotment, all MPs who have been given
government accommodation have to vacate the houses within a month of
the end of their terms. If they occupy the houses beyond this period,
they have to pay market rent.
But, notices for overstaying and eviction proceedings are also
initiated against them by the directorate of estates.
Sometimes these rules are employed effectively to vacate the
government houses. Two former MPs - Nand Kumar Sai and Ramdas Athawale
- have already been evicted from government accommodation for
overstaying. Evidently, different yardsticks have been adopted for the
Speaker and Azad.
The Speaker's spokesperson said that she was travelling abroad and
would be back on November 19. The spokesperson confirmed that Kumar
stays at 20, Akbar Road, and the other house was "not her residence".
Several of the current crop of Union ministers are waiting to move
into their allotted houses.
They include Labour Minister Mallikarjun M. Kharge and Ministers of
State S. Gandhiselvan, D. Napolean and S. Jagatrakshakan.
The ministers are currently staying at their respective state bhavans.
Efforts to provide them with government houses are also being hampered
by the fact that nine former ministers are not vacating their
government houses. They are Jagdish Tytler, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ram
Jethmalani, Saleem Sherwani, Renuka Chowdhury, Suryakanta Patil,
Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav and Ashwini Kumar.
All the directorate of estates says is that "eviction proceedings have
been initiated" against them.
An estimated 72 MPs are staying in hotels or state government guest
houses, according to the chairpersons of the housing committees in Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha. "We have allotted houses to all Lok Sabha MPs,
but about 10 per cent of them have not moved in, either because they
want some other houses or because the ex- MPs don't leave their
houses," said Jai Prakash Aggarwal, Lok Sabha housing committee
chairperson.
In the case of the Rajya Sabha, 18 MPs who had earlier been members of
the upper house have got elected to the Lok Sabha. "These MPs have
retained their Rajya Sabha allotted houses and the Lok Sabha has not
given us alternate accommodation to replace these. So our MPs are also
staying in hotels," said Bhuvaneshwar Kelida, Rajya Sabha housing
committee chairperson.
So, for the 72 MPs, the Centre is paying a bill of an estimated Rs
4.32 lakh per day. This, after the Centre just finished paying off an
outstanding bill of Rs 41.53 lakh for MPs from the last Lok Sabha, who
overstayed in hotels.
Meanwhile, despite a government order that offices of political
parties should be shifted out of Lutyens Delhi, nine bungalows have
been occupied by the Congress, the BJP, the BSP, the NCP and the
Samajwadi Party.
The Congress alone occupies four bungalows - 24, Akbar Road, 5,
Raisina Road, 26, Akbar Road and CII/109, Chanakyapuri. The BJP
occupies 11, Ashoka Road and 14, Pandit Pant Marg, the BSP is at 16,
GRG Road, the NCP at 10, Bishambar Das Marg and SP is at 18,
Copernicus Lane.
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