6 ex-Ministers, 23 former MPs yet to vacate govt accommodation

Continuing its eviction drive against ex-Ministers and former MPs, Directorate of Estate has managed to vacate government houses of 241 former Ministers and MPs till date.
While 11 ex-Ministers out of 17 have vacated their bungalows, 230 former MPs out of 258 have also surrendered the houses till now, said a senior official of Urban Development Ministry.
Only six former Ministers including Girija Vyas, Pallam Raju, Krishna Tirath, Jitendra Singh and Balram Naik are yet to vacate their government accommodation despite being served eviction notice.
Vyas has assured us to vacate her bungalow by August 31, said the official.
The eviction cases relating to the ex-ministers were referred to the quasi-judicial authority by the Directorate of Estate after the expiry of one month grace period on July 26.

Former ministers Girija Vyas and Krishna Tirath presented their cases in person while Ajit Singh, Kapil Sibal, Farooq Abdullah and Pallam Raju sent their representatives to the quasi-judicial authority to present their case on August 8.

While some of the ex-Ministers and former MPs had sought extension of government accommodation on medical grounds, others wanted some more time to vacate official accommodation after making alternate arrangements.
As far as accommodation for newly elected MPs are concerned, eviction notices were served to 258 former MPs who were defeated in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
Several teams were deployed to carry out the eviction order and they had to resort to forceful eviction in 20 cases, said the official.

"Only 23 ex-MPs are yet to vacate their houses while 235 surrendered the government accommodation," the official said, adding "five have gone to court against eviction order.