Jethmalani Allots Houses Against Officials' Advice

Urban affairs minister Ram Jethmalani has ordered allotment of a bungalow to Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas although the officials of the ministry had advised against it. Officials in the ministry say even the allotment of dwelling units to some other members of Parliament _ including Matang Singh of the Congress, Vinod Khanna of Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajya Sabha member Shabana Azmi and Sanjay Singh of BJP _ are not in keeping with the guidelines.

The ministry officials had taken the view that Vyas's request for allotment of the bungalow in question _ AB 96, Shahjehan Road _ could not be granted since she was not eligible to government accommodation in her capacity as the Congress spokesperson.

Besides, the Congress already has 15 units allotted to it against the limit of six dwelling units per political party imposed by the Supreme Court. Jethmalani, however, has directed the allotment as a "special case".

Matang Singh, who is entitled to a Type VI accommodation, has been allotted a bungalow that is categorised as a Type VII accommodation by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The minister however has taken the view that the accommodation allotted to Singh is a Type VI accommodation according to the Rajya Sabha.

Ministry officials point out that CPWD is the only competent authority in determining the category of an accommodation and the department has been allotting the house in question as a Type VII accommodation for over 30 years. In the case of Vinod Khanna and Shabana Azmi, the star power seems to have worked in their favour as both have been allotted bungalows.

Being first time members of Parliament, the duo is eligible for only Type V accommodations, of the kind available in North Avenue and South Avenue.

However, the film star duo has been allotted bungalows even some former governors, former ministers and third-time or fourth-time members of Parliament are said to be waiting in the queue.

Besides these allotments, there have also been as many as 14-15 cases in which dwelling units have been transferred from the general pool _ reserved for the central government bureaucrats _ to the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha pools.

There are as many as 570 dwelling units for the 545 members of Lok Sabha while as many as 262 units are reserved for the members of Rajya Sabha. The minister is also said to be directing transfer of units from the general pool to the pools of either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, upon the request of various Parliamentarians who are subsequently allotted the transferred units.

This say, urban affairs ministry officials, is a way to circumvent some of the procedures and may, in the long term, lead to a shortage of units for senior bureaucrats.