JOIN USThick-skinned politicians who have been overstaying in the posh government bungalows in the elite New Delhi area or what is called “Lutyen’s Delhi” are going to lose their coveted abode. The NDA government at the Centre is now ready to “destabilise” long-time power-wielders from their very roots. The Union Cabinet has approved an amendment to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971 that will make eviction of overstaying VIPs from government accommodation much easier. As against 60 days notice at present, the overstaying allottees will be given three days’ time to vacate. Besides, the jurisdiction of lower courts to intervene in such matters has been removed and henceforth, the aggrieved parties can only approach the high court or the Supreme Court for possible relief.
When the British government moved its imperial capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911, architect Edwin Lutyens was commissioned to design the Viceroy’s House (now used as Rashtrapati Bhavan), the Rajpath and a series of sprawling mansions for high-ranking officials, which is recognised as Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ). These 1,000-odd bungalows, sitting on two to three acres each of prime land along with another 9,000 or so plush government accommodation, are much in demand by the new elite of independent India. There are rules and regulations for their allotment, mostly to ministers, high-ranking bureaucrats, MPs, political parties and prestigious institutions, but problems have arisen whenever those losing entitlement have refused to move out. Some prominent politicians or their surviving family members had turned squatters of Lutyens’ Delhi as it was both a matter of status symbol and necessity for them to remain close to seats of power. Currently, there are two Congress chief ministers and a BJP chief minister, who are hanging on to the bungalows allotted to them when they were Union ministers. Over the last three years, the NDA government has managed to evict about 1,500 squatters of different categories, and the new amendment should make the process much smoother.
Maverick advocate-politician Ram Jethmalani, who was briefly the Union minister for urban development in a coalition government in 1998, had questioned the need for maintaining an expensive LBZ for a small section of power-seekers, when a large number of citizens lived in over-crowded localities. He had even set up a six-member committee of architects and planners to suggest ways for optimum utilisation of space with better amenities. Maybe, it is time to take a fresh look at this colonial legacy.