UT changes policy for allotment of houses to officers

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 23

In a major decision, the UT Administration has changed the policy for allotment of government houses to senior IAS and IPS officers of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Now, the allotment of houses to all senior officers will be made involving the chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana.

According to new changes, senior IAS and IPS officers will have to apply online and the seniority list of such officers will be made available online for making the system more transparent.

Sources said the Administration had finalised the policy after the approval of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore.

The sources said houses for eight senior IAS and five IPS officers were approved at a meeting held yesterday, which was also attended by the chief secretaries of Haryana and Punjab.

It has been also decided to involve Haryana and Punjab in the out-of-turn allotment of houses on medical grounds. The responsibility for checking the genuineness of the medical certificates submitted by the officers has also been fixed on the states concerned whose officers submit the certificates.

Senior officers, who don’t have houses in the tricity, will be given preference in the allotment. Earlier, the allotment of houses for senior officers was made at the Administration level.

UT Adviser Manoj Kumar Parida confirmed that the policy had been changed with a view to making it more transparent. Chandigarh has a limited number of big government houses in posh localities such as Sector 7, 24 and 16. Senior IAS officers, after being promoted from the post of Financial Commissioner to Additional Chief Secretary, become eligible for such houses, which are spread over four to five kanals.

This is the second major change in the policy by the Administration in the allotment of bungalows to senior officers. Barring the chairman of the five commissions, the Administration decided not to allow bureaucrats to retain their houses after retirement. It has also decided to reduce its discretionary quota in the allotment.

Earlier, bureaucrats, who became chairpersons of commissions or hold similar posts, retain their houses till the completion of their tenure, which ranges from three to five years. This led to a situation where eligible officers in the combined list were made to wait for years for houses.