In a bid to get senior government officers overstaying in official residences to move out, the State government has doubled the penalty from the present ₹50 per sq. ft. to ₹100 per sq. ft. A government resolution was issued to this effect on April 15 this year, which comes into force from May 1.
The State government is faced with dues of nearly ₹1 crore by 11 officials, both serving and retired, in rent arrears and overstay charges, including Ashwini Joshi, who was Mumbai Collector till her transfer on Saturday. Ms. Joshi, who is now the State Excise Commissioner, was the only official who sought and secured an exemption to waive off dues of ₹3 lakh. The State Public Works Department has now moved court for recovering the dues.
In response to an RTI application by activist Anil Galgali, the PWD said ₹92 lakh was due from 11 IAS, IPS and other State government officials, including three judges. Mr. Galgali said, “It is very surprising, since the State government was compelled to move court to recover the dues from these officials who refusesd to pay up despite repeated reminders.”
He added that the State government was rewarding defaulting officials with prime postings, even after retirement in some cases. “This attitude is akin to stating that these very law and policy makers and enforcers of the same are above the law. The government must invoke existing laws to recover the dues from their salaries and pensions.”
Ms. Joshi said, “This is a vindictive effort against me by Mr. Galgali. The Chief Minister has the discretion and chose to exercise the same after I wrote to him about my personal circumstances. The PWD department has written to me that there are no dues pending against my name and yet my name is being dragged into the media. There are a lot of IAS and IPS officials, at least 50 in the last decade, who have similarly had their dues waived off. Those people were overstaying for six years and more. Why are they not being cited?”
According to a senior secretariat official, the 11 defaulters were trying to seek the same benefit as Ms. Joshi. He added, “It is true that Ms. Joshi was a nursing mother at the time and may have retained her Mumbai accommodation as she had frequent visits and meetings scheduled in the city, even as Thane Collector. The CM has the discretion and exercised it more as an exception than the rule.”
Except for IAS officer Kamlakar Phand, the other 10 defaulters have vacated the premises but are yet to clear their dues. even as their respective rent and penalty charges remain unpaid.
P.K. Jain, who retired as chief of the Maharashtra State Security Board (MSSB) and is currently member, Maharashtra State Police Complaint Authority (MSPCA), said, “My application to allow me to continue occupying the allocated staff quarters is still pending with the State government. I had requested the government to allow me to occupy the same till such time that the rules of business for the MSPCA are notified for clarity on State-provided accomodation for members.”
He said during the pendency of his application around six months ago, the State government initiated eviction proceedings against him and he acceded. “This has been happening in the past too. It is the State government’s prerogative to recover dues. Our current Chief Secretary is unable to occupy his designated official residence as his predecessor is still to vacate the same. In fact, the ex-CS is even holding on to the official car that was allotted to him as CS. This is why only a few days ago, the government has increased the penalty for overstaying by 100% .”
Deputy Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), Somnath Bagul was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
