The spacious bungalows of Lutyens' Delhi, it would seem, are grossly inadequate for India's political class, as a Right to Information petition has revealed. The information released by the Central Public Works Department pertains to the unauthorised constructions at the ‘kothis' (bungalows) of about 60 Members of Parliament from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Some of these constructions, which range from whole rooms and offices to temporary sheds, have been around for several years, and in some cases, were erected by the predecessors of present occupants.
The list, which includes prominent names like L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, Kirti Azad, Ahmed Patel, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sharad Yadav, Amar Singh, and Suresh Kalmadi, also includes secretariat officials at both Houses of Parliament and offices of political parties.
An audacious instance of unauthorised construction is a temple in the plot allotted to N.K. Sapra, Additional Secretary (Lok Sabha), and a badminton court by Mr. Ram Jethmalani in his Akbar Road residence.
At 6, Krishna Menon Marg, which was earlier occupied by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar while she was the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, the CPWD report has acknowledged the unauthorized presence of a statue of Jagjivan Ram.
While the majority of the unauthorised constructions have come up in addition to the existing structures, there are cases where old portions of bungalows demolished to make way for newer ones. During the tenure of Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde as a Lok Sabha MP, the kitchen, pantry and store in his residence were knocked down to construct a big hall.
The information was furnished by the CPWD in response to a petition filed by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.
While the CPWD claims to have filed notices to the Members of Parliament who have engaged in such unauthorised construction, the report also states that these structures will only be removed at the time of change in occupancy.
