An IAS, the senior-most administrative post, plays a pivotal role in the implementation of government schemes and policies. Being in the premier service of India, an IAS officer is the backbone of the country, serving in several capacities and contributing to the overall development of the nation.
IAS officers generally receive handsome salaries, HRA, DA, subsidized bills, convention allowances, and medical allowances. Additionally, officers are allotted a government house along with vehicles and security. In this series, it has come to light that every month a huge amount is being spent on the renovation of government houses and apartments allotted to IAS officers in Haryana. Government figures have revealed that an amount of Rs 15 to 20 lakh is being spent every month in the name of renovation and maintenance of officers’ houses. It has also come to light that the houses of many IAS officers are being renovated every year, obtaining prior permission from the government.
Official information revealed that between November 2019 and March 2020, an amount of more than Rs 92 lakh was spent on the houses of around a dozen officials. Then from April 2020 to March 2021, more than Rs 70 lakh was spent on the houses of the same number of officers. Further, the amount spent on the houses witnessed a multifold increase as the expenditure pertaining to the same reached more than 4.6 crores.
During this period, more than three dozen government houses were renovated. After this, from April 2022 to March 2023, the houses of more than a dozen officers were renovated on maintenance which occurred at an expenditure of more than Rs 85 lakh.
Similarly, an amount of Rs 80 was spent on the renovation of the houses of around one and a half dozen officials. Notably, a total amount of Rs 42.38 crores has been spent on renovation work on 102 houses of ministers, OSDs, and officers from November 2019 to November 2023.
Further, the statistics depicted that since November 2019, an amount of around Rs 8 crores has been spent on the renovation and maintenance of more than 85 houses of the allottees. Among the allotted officers, several are common as they get the house renovated once, twice, or thrice during the aforementioned period. Most of the houses are owned by IAS officers, and the list includes several IAS officers who spend huge amounts of money on renovating their houses every year. Besides, it is worth mentioning that several of them have got the renovation done twice or even thrice a year which led to expenditure at least six digits or even seven digits every time. However, there were some officers who got the renovation done only once and the amount was also negligible.
Further, in view of the total amount Rs 42.38 crores spent on the renovation work of 102 government houses from November 2019 to November 2023, a huge amount of around Rs 86 lakhs, on average per month, is being spent on these houses for renovation and maintenance. According to official information, renovation and repair work of these houses is done following prior permission from the government and on the demand of the residents. Out of the aforementioned houses, as many as 84 residences located in the state capital Chandigarh have been allotted to ministers and their OSDs following the state’s quote in UT.
Since Chandigarh is jointly the capital of Haryana and Punjab, both the states have a fixed quota for the housing system here. As many as 271 houses have been maintained in the period from November 2019 to November 2023 incurring an expenditure of Rs 4234 lakh. As many as 32 houses were renovated from November 2019 to March 2020. Apart from this, 43 houses have been renovated in 2020-21, 112 in 2021-22, 51 in 2022-23, and 33 houses have been renovated so far in 2023-23. Of the officers with the aforementioned allotted house, a few are HCS, IPS, and HPS.
