Rs 24 crore spent on transit accomodation of new MPs

New Delhi, Jun 20: The government has spent nearly Rs 24 crore on the transit stay of the members of the 16th Lok Sabha in the capital, reveals an RTI response.

According to the rules, room tariff in respect of stay of Members of Parliament in transit accomodation, which include State Bhawans or ITDC hotels, is paid by the Directorate of Estates under the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

"Such payment is made after getting the period of stay confirmed/regularised from Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha Secretariat. Once a regular accommodation is allotted to the MP and the same is declared habitable by CPWD, 14 days time is given to MP to shift to the habitable declared accommodation," said the response from the Urban Development Ministry.

It said no payment is made by the government for overstay by any MP in transit accommodation.

"Rent paid for transit stay of newly elected MPs in the year 2014(January 1 to December 31, 2014) is Rs 2.96 crore and in the year 2015 (Jan 1 till May 22, 2015) is Rs 21.02 crore," said the Central Public Information Officer, G P Sarkar in response to a query by activist Subhash Agrawal.

Agrawal has now shot off a letter to the government saying earlier experience showed a virtual battle between MoUD, Lok Sabha Secretariat and ITDC continued for years over disputed bills as the then new MPs enjoyed hospitality of ITDC's five-starred hotels even after they had been provided regular government accommodation.

"Union government should ensure that all payment of hotel bills of new Parliamentarians for their extended stay there may be deducted from their salaries and allowances to avoid re-occurrence of any future conflict on such disputed hotel bills of newly elected Lok Sabha members," he said.

PTI