About 265 former MPs asked to vacate houses by June 18

To accommodate newly elected Members of Parliament, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has sent notices to about 265 former MPs asking them to vacate their houses by June 18.

Describing the exercise as "routine", Lok Sabha Secretary General P Sreedharan said, "The secretariat has informed all former MPs to vacate their houses by June 18. As far as former ministers are concerned the Directorate of Estate has asked them to hand over their bungalows by June 26."

There are about 320 new MPs, including newly appointed ministers, in the 16th Lok Sabha, who have to be provided accommodation in the national capital.

While the Directorate of Estate (DoE) is responsible for providing bungalows to ministers, the Lok Sabha Housing Committee will be allocating houses to new MPs.The Lok Sabha Housing Committee will be constituted by the Speaker after the first session gets over on June 11.

While letters have been issued to about 265 former MPs by the Lok Sabha Secretariat asking them to vacate their houses by June 18, the DoE has sent notices to about 55 former ministers to hand over their bungalows by June 26.

"It is a challenging task. Once the houses are vacated, we will have to make them ready for the new MPs and ministers to occupy them," said a senior CPWD official, adding "the mandatory white washing and other repairs, if required, have to be carried out in these houses".

New MPs are staying in transit accommodation at the moment. They have been accommodated in over 200 rooms in the State and Union Territory guest houses and over 150 rooms at Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) hotels in Delhi.

There were 70 ministers in the erstwhile UPA II government, out of which some have won while many lost in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Those who have lost will have to vacate their bungalows by June 26, as per the DoE notice.

Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has also appealed to the former ministers to vacate their official residences on their own and set a good example.