Welcome to overstay: Top officials leave Delhi,not govt houses

CM Chavan,Governor Wanchoo,IAS officers all have capital homes

Last week,the Supreme Court deplored the resistance of government employees,ministers,MPs and other dignitaries to vacate government houses after retirement or demitting office and issued guidelines to curb overstaying and ensure those eligible get accommodation.

But there are other government functionaries who seem to take advantage of their privileged positions and hold on to prized official quarters in New Delhi even though they are no longer posted in the capital,The Indian Express has found.

Many of these functionaries,mostly IAS officers,were allotted houses from the pool earmarked for their states when they were serving in the capital. But they continue to retain the houses despite having returned to their states and being given official accommodation there.

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Some of these officials who have returned to their states have been appointed to additional positions in the capital which they hold along with their primary jobs in the state which government sources claimed was a ruse to allow some of them to retain their Delhi houses.

This despite the fact that all states have official accommodation for visiting functionaries at their bhawans and sadans. While chief ministers and governors have suites at these state bhawans,IAS officers visiting the capital on official trips are allotted rooms on priority.

By retaining their Delhi houses,these functionaries have also ended up denying their colleagues accommodation from the limited state housing pool in the capital.

The list of such officials includes Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,Goa Governor B V Wanchoo and nearly 20 IAS officers,according to the Directorate of Estates,Ministry of Urban Development.

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Chavan,who was minister of state in the PMO before moving to Mumbai,holds on to a Type-8 bungalow on Race Course Road. Type-8 is the highest category of government housing in the capital.

Wanchoo was appointed governor in May 2012 and was allotted a house on Shahjahan Road a month later.

Chief secretaries of at least three states – Javed Usmani of Uttar Pradesh,D S Poonia of Manipur and Sunil Kumar of Chhattisgarh – are among the IAS officers who have houses in Delhi. Several principal secretaries in the states are also in the list.

Directorate of Estates officials said houses are allotted from the state pool following the recommendation of the principal resident commissioner of the state.

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Officials struggling for accommodation in the capital have complained to the directorate about houses being retained by their colleagues who are no longer in the capital.

These houses are being grabbed by the IAS officers posted in the state headquarters who get technical posting in New Delhi bhawans on flimsy grounds on various posts like OSD,special representatives etc. These officers are allotted huge bungalows by state governments in their posting places and their Delhi houses (sic), says a complaint dated January 17,2013.

The complainant sought an inquiry into this scandal.

The urban development ministry responded saying,your suggestion has been noted and will be considered whenever the policy is reviewed in this regard.