A large number of residential quarters meant for Central Government employees and their families are lying vacant and unutilised because of poor maintenance and neglect over the years. Although the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has constructed a large number of quarters in the city, many households are not maintained due to which about 809 quarters are still lying unoccupied. The Central Government employees are not occupying quarters due to poor housing facilities, lack of maintenance and repairs. “These unoccupied quarters should be upgraded, renovated and properly maintained, so that employees could take the accommodations,” said Sanjay Thul, President of All India Federation of Customs, Central Excise and GST SC/ST Employees Welfare Organisation. Out of the total 1,912 quarters, around 809 quarters are still unoccupied according to the Director of Estates, Nagpur. “The condition of these quarters is going from bad to worse.

 

The unoccupied quarters have increased from 500 to 809 quarters in a span of 10 years,” he pointed out. Most of the quarters are lying in dilapidated condition so Central Government employees are not willing to occupy it. In Nagpur there are a total 1,912 quarters under the General Pool Residential Accommodations (GPRA) available for Government employees. These quarters are mostly situated in prime locations of the city like Civil Lines, Seminary Hills and Katol Road. This information was provided by the Directorate of Estates under the Right to Information Act (RTI) filed by Abhay Kolharkar, social worker, recently.

 

“The Government should frame a policy to utilise the unoccupied quarters. They can be handed over to public sector units (PSUs) or sold to Central Government employees,” Thul suggested. In view of the above facts, Thul has sent a letter requesting the Minister for Housing and Urban Affair, New Delhi to look into this issue and solve it as soon as possible. Thul elaborated that the Government is incurring huge loss by not allotting the 809 vacant quarters to the staff members. For example: had the 809 quarters been allotted at Rs 10,000 per month, the Government could receive rent of more than Rs 80 lakh per month. With this amount the maintenance and upkeep of the quarters could be possible.