Rs 21 Crore In 5 Years Not Enough To Maintain Haryana Ministers' Bungalows, More Funds Approved For 'Repairs'

The Haryana government has allocated another Rs 15 crore for the upkeep of ministers' bungalows. The fund will be used in the remaining months of the 2024-25 fiscal year for repairs and decoration.

It seems spending more than Rs 25 crore in five years is not enough to maintain the bungalows of the ministers in Haryana. They require even more funds for their upkeep. According to news agency IANS, the Haryana government has now sanctioned an additional fund of Rs 15 crore for itself from the state Budget.

The Rs 15 crore will be used in the 2024-25 fiscal year to spruce up the bungalows of 13 of the 14 ministers in the Haryana Cabinet, including the one used by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. State Energy Minister Anil Vij had declined official accommodation.

The sanction of the funds went ahead without any hitch in the assembly as the Opposition, too, thought that the amount was necessary for the repairs, upkeep, and decoration according to their preferences.

The approval came in the recent Supplementary Estimates session of the Haryana Assembly.

The IANS quoted the approval document, "Being a post-budget development, the provision could not be made in the Budget Estimates for 2024-25. Hence, the demand of Rs 15 crore is being made through Supplementary Estimates."

The new BJP government was formed after the BJP's thumping win in Haryana recently. After that, offices and residence were freshly allotted to the ministers

The Public Works Department (PWD) is entrusted to carry ou the necessary renovations.

The whopping amount is apparently a must as the buildings are old, according to PWD Minister Ranbir Gangwa. He was quoted as saying, "It is but natural that when new persons move in, they undertake renovation according to their preferences. These are old buildings, so repairs are needed every five years." He however said he was not aware of what renovations were carried out in the previous government, which was headed by Manohar Lal Khattar and then Saini.

As per the report, renovations amounting to crores have been done in the last five years and the same bungalows have now been allotted to the new ministers. However, the renovations were not enough and the bungalows apparently require even more spending.

The Manohar Lal Khattar government spent Rs 64.84 lakh in the five months of its term in 2019-20 financial year. In the next fiscal, it spent Rs 15.02 crore in the next two years. 

In 2022-23, the Haryana government spent Rs 3.3 crore, while it spent Rs 2.45 crore the next fiscal. Thus, the total expenditure amounted to nearly Rs 21 crore. Now, 71% of the amount is planned to be spent in just the remaining five months of 2024-25 fiscal year, as per the IANS report.