Ministers told to vacate offices and bungalows

With the President’s rule being imposed in Maharashtra, the state administration on Wednesday directed 43 ministers, including the chief minister, to vacate their

With the President’s rule being imposed in Maharashtra, the state administration on Wednesday directed 43 ministers, including the chief minister, to vacate their offices within six hours and hand over the possession to the general administration department (GAD). Officers have been asked to return the stationery and other material to the GAD.

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The department has also asked the ministers to vacate their bungalows within 15 days beginning November 8, the day Devendra Fadanavis resigned as the chief minister.

“We have allotted bungalows or spacious flats to 43 members of the council of ministers. They are expected to be vacated by November 23. An extension of three months can be granted in case of a special permission. During that period, the minister will have to pay a rent of ₹25 per sqft. If the minister gets another extension, the rent will be ₹50 per sqft,” said an official from the GAD.

Ministers are allotted bungalows from the 36 structures the government owns opposite Mantralaya and at Malabar Hill. The official said no minister has vacated the accommodation so far, but some of them have inquired about the deadline and related rules.

A state minister gets 15 government employees, while a minister of state (or junior minister) gets 13 in his office. The chief minister’s office gets more than 140 employees from other departments. All these employees and officers have been directed to report to their parent departments.

Meanwhile in Mantralaya, staffers in ministers’ offices were seen packing material and disposing of irrelevant documents.

“The files have been sent back to the departments they originated from,” said an official