New Delhi: Over 200 former Lok Sabha Members of Parliament (MPs) have been issued eviction notices for failing to vacate their official bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi, according to sources in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. The notices, issued under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, mandate the former MPs to vacate their residences promptly.
Per the rules, former MPs are required to vacate their official bungalows within a month following the dissolution of the previous Lok Sabha. However, the ministry has found a significant number of former MPs still occupying these residences beyond the stipulated period.
“So far, more than 200 former MPs have been issued eviction notices for overstaying. They have been asked to vacate their official bungalows at the earliest. The process to send notices to more former MPs is underway,” sources said.
Should the former MPs fail to vacate their accommodations promptly, teams of officials will be dispatched for “forceful eviction,” the sources added.
While the Lok Sabha Secretariat provides accommodation to the MPs, the Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry is responsible for allotting bungalows to Union ministers in Lutyens’ Delhi. Eviction proceedings are initiated if former ministers and former MPs do not vacate their official bungalows within the specified time.
In related developments, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been allocated the bungalow at 83 Lodhi Estate, previously occupied by a former central information commissioner, another source revealed. No eviction notices have been issued to any former Union ministers for overstaying, the source confirmed.
To date, over four former Union ministers, including Smriti Irani, have vacated their official bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi. Irani vacated her official residence at 28 Tughlak Crescent earlier this month, weeks after losing her Amethi parliamentary seat to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.