Mantris under leaky roofs

So you thought only the poor suffer. That’s not the case; our ministers too are in poor quarters!

Many State ministers have been asked to put up with ill-maintained and shoddy houses at the ministers’ quarters on Road 12, Banjara Hills.

Ministers quarters complex on Road No. 12, Banjara Hills consists of 30 units. They’re allotted by the General Administration Department (GAD) on the instructions of Chief Minister. This complex currently has two vacant quarters.

Apart from this, the State has 10 ministers’ quarters at Kundan Bagh. According to officials of general administration department, the quarters at Kundan Bagh are generally not vacated as they are occupied by senior ministers!

“The quarter where I stay is in a dilapidated condition. It looks like as if it would collapse after a heavy rain,” a minister told Postnoon seeking anonymity. He also said that his request for repairs of the quarters is yet to be honoured due to long bureaucratic procedures. “You know how much it will take to complete the bureaucratic procedures like completion of tender process and its execution. We are helpless as we can’t do anything since we are holding crucial positions,” he said.

Another minister, who was inducted into the State Cabinet during the recent expansion, said that he was allotted quarter No. 19, a similar building in dilapidated condition. “My building is also dilapidated. I shifted to it as my family is not staying with me. If my family members would have stayed with me, my condition would have been worse,” he told Postnoon.

The State government has constructed these quarters in Banjara Hills about two decades ago to provide accommodation to Cabinet ministers and to persons of equivalent stature like chief whip and whips of the government. The roads and buildings department is responsible for the maintenance and repair works at the ministers’ quarters. The department undertakes repairs and maintenance works by calling tenders in a regular manner whenever it receives requests from ministers.

Vaastu Dosam also Haunts ministers

It is not the physical condition of these quarters haunting the ministers. Vaastu dosam also forced many ministers to opt for private accommodation. “I was given two quarters to choose from. But both were having vaastu problems. So, I did not opt for any of them. Many of the good quarters with proper vaastu were occupied by senior ministers, so I did not have any option but to stay in private accommodation,” minister for animal husbandry P Viswaroopu said.

Some of the ministers are happy to stay away from the ministers’ quarters for these prevailing reasons. “I was also allotted a quarter at the ministers’ quarters after I was inducted into the cabinet. But I rejected the offer as I am comfortable in my existing accommodation,” minister for BC welfare B Saraiah told this paper.

He is presently staying at Old MLA Quarters at Hyderguda.

Tags: Banjara Hills, featured, full-image, General Administration Department, ministers, poor quarters

Category: City, City News