The irony is that in the government record they have all been shown vacant but officials of the state government have given them on rent. Not only are they collecting rent or have put up their own relatives in them, the state government spends crores of rupees annually on the upkeep and maintenance of these flats. Reports said that many of these occupants are the leaders and workers of the ruling NDA constituents––Janata Dal (United) and BJP.

Some of the occupants interviewed by the channel conceded that the flats have not originally been allotted to them.

Interestingly, the Building Construction minister Damodar Rawat acknowledged that some of the flats in Gardanibagh Colony are not worth living, therefore, some people might have been living there. “Now that you have highlighted it, we would look into the matter,” he told the channel.

According to sources this racket has been flourishing for the last four to five years yet the minister expressed his ignorance about it. These flats are situated in R Block, Rajvanshi Nagar, Gardanibagh, Shashtrinagar and Kankarbagh.

The irony is that these flats are under illegal occupation when many officials and employees of the state government are yet to get their quarter and are living in rented house.

RTI activist Shiv Prakash Rai alleged that huge amount of money have changed hands. He alleged that the minister and officials are well aware of it.

He said that rent should be recovered from all those living there. Besides, actions should be taken against all the officials who have sublet these flats. The government should impose fine on them and recover the amount. “We would even move court in this regard,” he added.

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