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Punjab wants 56 high-end flats for MLAs in Chandigarh
Governor gives nod after CMO writes to Chandigarh Housing Board for two towers in its upcoming project for government accommodation
Though reeling under acute financial crisis, the Punjab government is learnt to have sought two towers for its legislators in the Chandigarh Housing Board’s upcoming high-end housing scheme at Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park.
Each tower has 28 four-bedroom flats, with each estimated to cost 1.75-2 crore.
The demand is over and above the state government’s earlier request for one tower for its bureaucrats who find it difficult to get government accommodation in Chandigarh.
Highly placed sources in the CHB said a letter in this regard was received from the chief minister’s office (CMO) last month and it has already got the nod of Punjab governor and UT administrator VP Singh Badnore.
CHB chairman AK Sinha confirmed the Punjab Vidhan Sabha through the state government has shown interest in buying flats in the housing scheme. “The matter is already under consideration,” he said.
The Haryana government, too, has agreed to buy two towers in this 7-acre scheme that the CHB will soon roll out, exclusively to provide government accommodation.
Vidhan Sabha made request in 2016
According to government records, it was in November 2016 that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha asked the then Akali government for more accommodation for MLAs due to shortage of houses for them in the state capital.
Sources said after the Congress came to power, chief minister Amarinder Singh took up the matter with Badnore in November 2017.
Shashi Lakhanpal, Punjab Vidhan Sabha secretary, said at present 64 MLAs have been allotted permanent accommodation. “We are in need of accommodation for at least 40 more MLAs, demand for which was raised by the then speaker in 2016, following which the matter was taken up at the CM level in 2017,” she said.
The Punjab assembly has 117 MLAs.
“We have a tough time providing accommodation to MLAs who come here for official business,” she said, adding that most of them are given a room or two in the Punjab MLA hostels temporarily. The official accommodation, however, stays with the MLA for the whole tenure, said Lakhanpal.
What is the project
The CHB is coming up with the project over 7 out of 123 acres it took back from a private builder in 2015 after a long-drawn-out legal battle.
At least 12 towers can be constructed over this chunk of land. To start with, the board is likely to construct seven towers, including two each for the UT administration and Haryana government, and three for Punjab.
The UT department of urban planning has already given zoning approval to the scheme while the project’s layout plan and detailed architectural designs are under process. Meanwhile, the CHB has floated a tender to hold a competition to select the best design for the project.
