The Pioneer; J Gopikrishnan March 31, 2011,
The CPWD has passed the buck on to Ministry of Urban Development in connection with the eviction of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar from the bungalow allotted to her in 1986 as a Member of Parliament.
The bungalow at 6 Krishna Menon Marg came into the possession of Meira Kumar when she became a Member of Parliament in 1986. This Type-8 bungalow had been in the possession of her father Jagjivan Ram for nearly four decades. However, even though she shifted in June 2009 to 20 Akbar Road, when this second bungalow was allotted to her in her capacity as the Lok Sabha Speaker, she did not vacate the earlier premises.
Right To Information (RTI) activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has pointed out this irregularity of Meira Kumar keeping the two bungalows, has been seeking information on this matter with all departments concerned, including the Central Public Works Department and the Ministry of Urban Develop-ment, for past 18 months.
The response to his RTI applications clearly shows that the CPWD, Ministry of Urban Development and Directorate of Estates have been shying away from taking on the powerful Speaker.
According to the information provided recently by CPWD to Agrawal, the department stated that it had forwarded the “self-explanatory” evidences submitted by the petitioner to the Ministry of Urban Development for “necessary action”.
In earlier letters to Agrawal, the CPWD had admitted its inability to issue an order for vacation of the bungalow allotted in 1986 to Meira Kumar.“No action in this regard can be taken by CPWD unless the bungalow is otherwise vacated by the honourable MP,” the department had stated.
According to details provided in response to the RTI application, the CPWD had alerted the Government departments concerned regarding the non-vacation of the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow three times in February and December last year and in February this year.
According to sources, Meira Kumar formed a trust in 2006 in the name of her late father and turned the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow into its office while staying at her personal residence in Maharani Bagh. However, this was objected to by the Government, which issued a circular prohibiting the conversion of official residences into offices for private trusts.
Recently, the Ministry of Urban Development had forcibly evicted several former MPs by throwing out their belongings on the road.
The CPWD has passed the buck on to Ministry of Urban Development in connection with the eviction of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar from the bungalow allotted to her in 1986 as a Member of Parliament.
The bungalow at 6 Krishna Menon Marg came into the possession of Meira Kumar when she became a Member of Parliament in 1986. This Type-8 bungalow had been in the possession of her father Jagjivan Ram for nearly four decades. However, even though she shifted in June 2009 to 20 Akbar Road, when this second bungalow was allotted to her in her capacity as the Lok Sabha Speaker, she did not vacate the earlier premises.
Right To Information (RTI) activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has pointed out this irregularity of Meira Kumar keeping the two bungalows, has been seeking information on this matter with all departments concerned, including the Central Public Works Department and the Ministry of Urban Develop-ment, for past 18 months.
The response to his RTI applications clearly shows that the CPWD, Ministry of Urban Development and Directorate of Estates have been shying away from taking on the powerful Speaker.
According to the information provided recently by CPWD to Agrawal, the department stated that it had forwarded the “self-explanatory” evidences submitted by the petitioner to the Ministry of Urban Development for “necessary action”.
In earlier letters to Agrawal, the CPWD had admitted its inability to issue an order for vacation of the bungalow allotted in 1986 to Meira Kumar.“No action in this regard can be taken by CPWD unless the bungalow is otherwise vacated by the honourable MP,” the department had stated.
According to details provided in response to the RTI application, the CPWD had alerted the Government departments concerned regarding the non-vacation of the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow three times in February and December last year and in February this year.
According to sources, Meira Kumar formed a trust in 2006 in the name of her late father and turned the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow into its office while staying at her personal residence in Maharani Bagh. However, this was objected to by the Government, which issued a circular prohibiting the conversion of official residences into offices for private trusts.
Recently, the Ministry of Urban Development had forcibly evicted several former MPs by throwing out their belongings on the road.
.JPG)
.JPG)
