The state Cabinet, on Monday, decided to go ahead with a proposal of constructing 220 flats for MLAs in the new and the old MLA Quarters, at a cost of Rs. 40 crores.
Briefing media persons after the Cabinet Meeting at the state Secretariat on Monday, Minister for Information and Broadcasting J Geetha Reddy revealed that the flats would be constructed in 2 phases. Work on 110 flats will be taken up in the first phase, while the second phase will see the rest of the flats being constructed.
Geetha Reddy added that the Cabinet had already sanctioned Rs. 10 crores in the 2010-2011 Budget.
With Legislators being reluctant to vacate the flats even after losing at the hustings, the government has faced a piquant situation through the years to lodge first-timers to the Assembly.
Complaints that senior Legislators - including Congress spokesperson N Tulasi Reddy, former minister Md Ali Shabbir, and former TDP MLA T Srinivas Yadav - are unwilling to vacate their official residences, have vexed the government.
Currently, the old MLA Quarters at Himayatnagar and the new MLA Quarters at Adarsh Nagar have 330 quarters, including family quarters as well as rooms.
Notices to the former Legislators to vacate these quarters have failed to evoke any response.
Estates Office officials say that the legislators who have completed their term are required to pay a rent of Rs. 2,000 per month after obtaining an authorisation letter from the Allotment Committee. In case the letter is not obtained, then the former legislator must pay Rs. 6,000 per month.
Fines levied on the legislators for failing to vacate the premises are simply not paid. Combined with rent arrears and fines, the figure runs into crores of rupees.
A serving MLA does not need to pay rent, and electricity and water are supplied free.