Govt short of houses for MPS

The urban development ministry may not be able to accommodate demands of all newly elected Member of Parliaments for bunglows in the Lutyens Zone. According to an estimate half the MPs may fail to get accomodation in the zone. Sources said that the ministry may have to ask the firsttimers to arrange for their own accomodation until it finds an alternate solution.

The ministry is dreading that if all the newlyelected MP would insist on being placed in plush bungalows in the heart of the city, then it might be a cause of concern as there are not many such houses which are available and asking the ex- MPS to vacate will probably be a time consuming task.

“If we were to access the present scenario then it would be very difficult to accommodate, because the number of BJP MPs is 282 and there are many new faces who have been elected to the Lok Sabha. We do not have that many houses available in Lutyens. We do have some bungalows in Moti Bagh area but then again not many people favour that location since it is far from the Parliament,” said a senior official in the urban ministry.

The MPs are entitled to a C- II bungalow in central Delhi. A typical C- II bungalow has 4 bedrooms and a study. The higher category which is allotted to second- time MPs and Cabinet ministers are also a scarce inventory.

“The trouble comes when the former MPs refuse to vacate on some grounds or MPs put in further requests to upgrade their accommodation. We have as it is been grappling with the requests of the earlier MPs, with new faces it will be tough call,” said a senior official in the ministry.

Sources have indicated that the option to construct more houses is completely out of question as Delhi is already tackling with spacecrunch. The director of estates is waiting for the new minister to take charge so that a call can be taken as to how will it will start getting the bungalows vacated.