VIP houses make a dent in exchequer

Centre allots Rs17 cr annually for their upkeep but most houses are empty or rented out illegally

Worried about your annual maintenance charges to be given to your society? Sample this.
In Delhi, an amount of Rs17 crores has been set aside from this year for the maintenance of MP’s houses. Maintenance would mean simple repair work, white wash and the general upkeep. Interestingly there are a total of 895 flats and bungalows given to MP’s.

Minister of state for Urban Development, Ajay Maken has said that for the first time a separate allocation of Rs17 crore has been made available for ordinary repair works for the maintenance of MPs residences. Senior officials in the ministry of urban development say that this was a recurring problem for many years now as initially the repairs of these houses was carried out from the general maintenance budget of the CPWD, which was to the tune of Rs 200 crores.

“Every year MP’s would complain and we would tell the ministry that the budget was very thinly spread. Thereby finally the ministry allocated a separate budget for these houses,” said a senior official.

Though the amount is enormous, some of it can be justified, say officials. “Most bungalows in the Lutyens zone are at least 75 years old and have outlived their days. There is an enormous drain on us to maintain these houses since they are in a bad shape. However, most flats are in a reasonable condition and don’t need such huge investments,” accepts the official.

Another case in point is that most of these houses allotted to MP’s are empty or used by people in their constituencies as a stop-gap measure. In fact, some of these are illegally rented out to private companies or people. “We have spent lakhs on maintenance of bungalows where only dogs and servants live. We have to do it to maintain the standards of the MP’s,” said a senior official in the ministry of Urban development.