13 years on, NGO quarters yet to be alloted

KOCHI: Getting an accommodation in the NGO quarters still remains a distant reality for many government employees. Though the district administration has started evicting unauthorised occupants, the list of those seeking an accommodation in the NGO quarters has been pending since 1998. A source said, “I submitted my application in 2007. There are slight chances for me to get quarters, as I belong to the reservation category.”When asked about the pending list, Harikumar, head clerk, General Administration, said, “We are helpless as many occupants had acquired the quarters by giving a special request to the government.”“Though the District Collector is vested with the power to allot the quarters, the State Government can overrule it, at any time, as per the provision that existed till 2010. Seniority, which is a major factor in acquiring government quarters, was also frequently overruled. About 95 percent of the occupants has acquired the quarters in this manner and most of them are high court staff,” he said.“Although the district administration has started evicting unauthorised occupants, the task of allocating quarters is going to be nerve-wracking for the authorities concerned until the Public Works Department shows green light in the matter,” General Administration sources said. “As some of the quarters are in a dilapidated stage, these could not be allocated by the PWD,” they added.“The quarters are usually allocated to Class I, II, III and IV. Usually, the Class I category is in the habit of breaking rules. As per the rule, a retired government employee has to vacate quarters the very first day he retires. But that does not happen. The District Collector has the power to extend the stipulated time to six months. But there are many who have exceeded the time limit,” Harikumar said.“We evicted 10 unauthorised occupants, out of which three of them were staying for the past two years. An occupant who was staying alone, too, was evicted, as these quarters are meant for families,” he said. As many as 38 other occupants were under close scrutiny and procedures were on to evict them, he added.