All post-2018 discretionary allotments under review; MLAs to get appropriate accommodations
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Jammu: The National Conference (NC) government in Jammu and Kashmir is asking all MLAs, non-MLAs and officers to immediately vacate the Ministerial bungalows under their possession even as all the discretionary allotments made in the last 6 years are now under the review of a high-power committee.
Authoritative sources revealed to NEWS NOW that the process of issuing the vacation notices to over 30 occupants of the Ministerial bungalows in Srinagar and Jammu has started. These include senior and middle-rung IAS, IPS and IFS officers besides some politicians who have been elected as MLAs in the recent Assembly elections but are not entitled to retain Ministerial bungalows.
A number of the occupants, who are getting the vacation notices, are the politicians of different parties who are no longer holding any positions in the government. The government, according to sources, has taken the stand in conformity with some High Court and the Supreme Court orders which do not endorse any correlation between a person’s security issues, threat perceptions and entitlement to a government accommodation.
Most of these court orders, according to well-placed sources, do not interfere with the Chief Minister’s discretion of the approval of government accommodation in favour of certain persons. “It is a routine review which takes place after the change of every government”, said a senior bureaucratic source. He confirmed on the condition of anonymity that more than a hundred allotments issued in the post-2018 period are under the review of the new popular government.
Some of these, according to sources, may be upheld on merits but a number of the allotments issued without entitlement of the occupants for different reasons are likely to be cancelled. “Only a few of the Ministers and MLAs have been given appropriate government accommodations in the last three months. We are in need of at least a hundred premises in the two capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu to accommodate all Ministers and MLAs”, said an official. According to him, a number of such accommodations are still in possession of the officers who have been transferred to different positions either in the Union Government or different States and Union Territories.
According to sources, it has been noticed that a number of officers and politicians have retained and kept such premises locked in Srinagar or Jammu or both the places after their transfer to a different region, UT or State or the Central deputation.
Some senior officers, according to sources, are claiming that they are required to frequently visit Srinagar or Jammu during their Central deputation whilst some other of their family members, who are also public servants in the UT, are residing at their accommodations. Their plea, according to sources, is still under the consideration of the government.
Administrative Secretaries of Home, Estates, Law and Parliamentary Affairs and the General Administration Department and Director of Estates besides some senior Police officers are functioning as members of the high-power committee. The committee held a meeting on Friday. It is required to submit a detailed report to the Minister incharge Estates (Chief Minister) next week.
