Rs 2 cr for upkeep of 15 govt bungalows

In house number 3 in Sector 3,the Administration is going to spend Rs 42 lakh on renovation — the highest amount to be spent on any house’s renovation so far.

“Is the Administration going to demolish the entire structure and rebuild a house? With such an amount,even at today’s market rates,you can get a modest one kanal house constructed,” a senior architect told Newsline. “Spending crores of rupees on a bunch of houses is nothing but siphoning off of public’s hard-earned money.”

The official communiqué circulated by the Administration mentioned that maintenance,repairs and alterations in these 15 bungalows would be included in the priority list of the work being undertaken by the Engineering department.

In fact,three houses are not even approved either under the plan or non-plan head of the budget. Yet,the Administration is set to include renovation work in these houses in its top priority list.

Of the 15 bungalows,10 belong to judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Earlier as well,the Administration had been extremely generous towards influential officials.

The documents in possession of Newsline reveal how the Administration has been spending crores of rupees on maintenance of government bungalows.

In 2005-08 alone,the Administration spent Rs 331.11 lakh on renovation,maintenance and repair of the judges’ houses — Rs 135.94 lakh in 2005-06,Rs 113.50 lakh in 2006-07 and Rs 81.67 lakh in 2007-08.

In the same period,Rs 332.08 lakh was spent on houses of top officials of Punjab and Haryana.

Further,Rs 77.90 was spent on houses of ministers and Members of the Legislative Assemblies of Punjab and Haryana during 2005-08. On the houses of IPS,IAS and commissioner-rank officials,Rs 95.92 lakh was spent on maintenance,renovation and repair work.