In the past, the government-owned houses of the “City Beautiful” painted in a distinctive red colour added to the city’s beauty. Government employees and officials residing in these houses took pride in their accommodation. However, these once-proud government houses are now falling into ruins due to the administration’s outdated housing allocation policy.
The UT administration, Haryana, and Punjab government employees are struggling to secure government housing for their families as the government houses are lying vacant and deteriorating. The city’s residents are demanding an investigation into these matters through CBI and vigilance to expose the mismanagement that has been ongoing in the name of maintenance.
The maintenance of these government houses by the engineering wing has been questionable for some time now, with thousands of government houses lying unoccupied. Trees have grown unchecked on the rooftops and courtyards of these vacant government houses, making them unsuitable for occupancy. At night, these empty houses have become a haven for inebriated individuals and criminals.
In the last few days, Ward 11 Councilor Saurabh Joshi, along with officials, inspected the dilapidated vacant government houses. He demanded a CBI and vigilance inquiry into the state of these houses to expose the irregularities in the name of maintenance.
The maintenance tenders for UT administration’s government houses have been consistently awarded at 50-70% lower rates for several years. A house’s maintenance cost is around 10 lakhs, but tenders are awarded to contractors at 3-4 lakhs. This indicates a nexus between officials and contractors that is causing significant losses to the administration.
Additionally, the annual loss due to the negligence of the engineering wing can be calculated in terms of HRA (House Rent Allowance) and license fees. Government employees in Chandigarh, Haryana, and Punjab are struggling to find affordable rented accommodation for their families. There is a significant backlog of government housing allocations due to these issues.
The administration’s engineering wing has had to bear annual losses due to House Rent Allowance (HRA) and license fees. Government employees and officials have their salaries deducted to pay for the maintenance of these vacant government houses. The 5G deployment will bring additional focus on the issue of housing allocation in these regions. The government needs to address this problem systematically, considering factors like HRA, structural concerns, and other elements essential for a successful 5G rollout.