SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL
It refers to RTI response from Lok Sabha revealing that still 47 Lok Sabha members are occupying transit-accommodations in various state guest-houses even after more than one year of their having been elected to Lok Sabha.
RTI response also reveals that at least in 10 cases, they failed to shift to regular government-accommodations even despite these accommodations allotted to them were ‘habitable’. Cost of transit-accommodation should be recovered from Lok Sabha members who continued enjoying luxurious transit-accommodation despite regular provided government-accommodation becoming ‘habitable’. Earlier RTI response had revealed that Central government had already paid bills worth rupees 24 crores till 22.05.2015 with more bills to be received by Central government from five-starred hotels and luxurious state guest-houses because authorities failed to get government-accommodations from former Lok Sabha members in stipulated 30 days (plus maximum 30 days of grace) in time.
Nothing can improve in this country until responsibility fixed and guilty ones punished in governance for violation of rules. Supreme Court verdict dated 05.07.2013 in the matter ‘SD Bandi vs Divisional Traffic Officer, KSRTC & others’ (Civil Appeal number 4064 of 2004) specifically desired against over-occupation of government-bungalows after one month of losing entitlement with a grace of maximum one more month. Money spent of transit-accommodation of new members of Lok Sabha should be recovered from former Parliamentarians overstaying in government-accommodations, and those in government who failed in their duty to get government-accommodations evicted from erring members of earlier Lok Sabha not vacating government-accommodations in stipulated time also as a deterrent against such over-occupation of government-accommodations in future.
On the contrary we have ideals like Shabana Azmi who went to attend her last day in Rajya Sabha after vacating her government-accommodation rightly stating that she would lose entitlement to retain it after she ceased to retain her membership of Rajya Sabha. We note children of new Prime Minister in Britain pushing their luggage at Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street (London) only because earlier Prime Minister vacated official residence immediately after losing post.
