The Rajasthan government has defended the construction of ‘opulent and luxurious’ housing complex for the MLAs during the Covid crisis.
The Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan has defended the ongoing construction of what is being referred to as ‘opulent and luxurious’ housing complex for the MLAs.
The construction work is under with an estimated expenditure of Rs 266 crore for 4-BHK (bedroom, hall and kitchen) flats equipped with luxurious facilities on six acres of prime real estate right across the Rajasthan state assembly premises.
This is happening at a time when Rajasthan is hearing the voices of protest from unemployed youths, who are demanding filling up the vacancies in the state government offices.
“The [Rajasthan] government has been building opulent luxurious flats for the MLAs. They are the priority for the government. The berozgaars [unemployed youths] are not,” complained Suresh Meena, who said he was looking for a government job for about 10 years.
Suresh Meena, 35, claimed his name was in the waitlist candidates in the examination conducted for the Lower-Grade Clerk (LDC) positions in 2018.
He also claimed that several positions were lying vacant in the government offices due to resignation by those selected for the positions but the Gehlot government had not paid heed to demands made by unemployed youths of the state.
However, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has defended the construction of flats for the MLAs. He said, “The problem of housing for the MLAs was very old. MLAs’ homes built in Vidhayak Nagar East and West and Jalupura had become very old and dilapidated.”
“Given that our government gave approval to MLA housing project providing solution to this problem of the MLAs pending for years. The project has got concrete form only with the willpower of everyone,” Gehlot said.
Gehlot inaugurated the Rajasthan housing board’s MLA Housing Project, the Constitution Club Project and AIS Project along with others through video-conferencing on Thursday.
THE BACKSTORY OF CRITICISM
Rajasthan has been badly affected by Covid-19 with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lamenting on several occasions about depleted cash reserves and inadequate resources to deal with the pandemic situation and implement public welfare schemes simultaneously.
The Gehlot government had also targeted the Narendra Modi government with the chief minister writing to the prime minister seeking release of GST (Goods and Services Tax) dues to Rajasthan. In his letter, Gehlot claimed that depleted resources had severely crippled the Rajasthan government in taking care of the poor during the pandemic.
However, despite claims of severe revenue crunch, the Ashok Gehlot government went ahead with the multi-crore project for the MLAs.
The construction work is going on in full swing, 24 hours a day, in three shifts of eight hours with about 300 labourers, supervisors and engineers racing against time to complete the mammoth project by November 2023-deadline.
The MLAs housing project, under the supervision of Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB), was outsourced to a private Jaipur-based builder NS Ghadhiya after tender was floated.
THE HOUSING PROJECT
One-hundred-and-sixty 4-BHK flats will be built under the project for the MLAs. The entire project will cover an area of 24,610 square feet or six acres.
Each of the 4-BHK flats will be built on an area of 3,200 square feet. Apart from four rooms, each flat will have a drawing room, a kitchen and a servant room.
At the current estimated market rate, each of these flats could be priced anywhere from Rs 3.5 to 5 crore. The project will also boast of parking space for 1,200 vehicles and a 12-room guest house to be named Om Guest House.
“Work has been going on 24 hours a day on the project. Around 300 workers have been working in three shifts. Work is being carried by the private builder under the supervision of the RHB,” the project director of the Rajasthan Housing Board told India Today.
Apart from luxurious 4-BHK flats with modern amenities, the MLAs will also be able to avail facilities such as club house with a gymnasium equipped with latest machines, swimming pool and a park built over 40,000 square feet area.
The project also includes a sewerage treatment plant and a metered gas line for the comfort of MLAs and their families.
‘NOT ABOUT CONGRESS, BJP’
Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, cabinet minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, defended the entire project saying there would be no additional expenditure on it.
He said, “The entire project has been undertaken at the initiative of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi. The flats are being built under the assembly quota. The government shall generate enough funds from auction of the property where MLAs are currently staying.”
MLA Indira Meena of the Congress claimed the project was for the benefit of the MLAs from across parties irrespective of whether they are of the BJP or the Congress.
Speaking to India Today, Indira Meena said, “The Ashok Gehlot government is not partial or differentiating on the basis of party affiliations. It is a move which has been welcomed by politicians from all parties. We face problems in entertaining when people from our assembly constituencies come to meet us as we currently stay in small quarters.”
THE COMPLAINT
However, the move has not gone down well with the unemployed youth in the state. Besides Suresh Meena, who claimed to be on the LDC waiting list, there are others who question the Gehlot government’s decision to build a housing complex for the MLAs.
Radhe Meena, associated with Rajasthan Berozgaar Sangh, told India Today, “Around 35 lakh people are estimated to be unemployed in Rajasthan but only around 2 lakh people are given unemployment allowance by the government.”
“Such opulence shown by the Gehlot government in building luxurious flats for the MLAs is like rubbing salt in the wounds of the common people,” Radhe Meena said.
‘WHO BENEFITS FROM MLA HOUSING?’
The Congress had promised unemployment allowance or berozgaari bhatta of Rs 3,500 per month for the unemployed youths in Rajasthan in its manifesto for the 2018 assembly election.
In August 2019, the salary of MLAs in Rajasthan was hiked by up to 40 per cent. The MLAs in Rajasthan receive attendance allowance of Rs 2,000 per day. Apart from that, they are also entitled to telephone allowance of Rs 2,500 per month and annual free travel concession of Rs 3 lakhs.
The Gehlot government is facing the flak particularly from the unemployed youths over MLA Housing Project. It has come at a time when thousands of people have lost their jobs.
With people facing severe financial crunch and a general sense of despondency looming over economy, many are asking question who the Gehlot government’s extravagance will actually benefit.
