In the House, and yet without a house

Can you imagine actor Jaya Bachchan, industrialist Anil Ambani, hotelier Lalit Suri, former Union Minister RK Dhawan and former Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony homeless in Delhi? These elders are yet to be allotted homes by the Rajya Sabha house committee.

Not that there is a scarcity of houses, but that these members have their own special needs.

According to sources, the Rajya Sabha has in its quota 37 bungalows and around 250 flats. It is these 37 bungalows that are being targeted by most senior members.

The Rajya Sabha has been allotted 26 flats in Swaran Jayanti Bhavan and 22 flats in Vittalbhai Patel Bhavan, yet the lure of a Lutyen's Bungalow is irresistible. House panel chairman Raju Parmar is, however, indulgent of these demands.

"The people who are seeking for bungalows have special needs, like Ambani has security needs, and Antony and Dhawan are senior Congress leaders. They cannot be accommodated in a flat," he said.

So scarce are the bungalows that thespian Dilip Kumar had to wait for four years before a bungalow in the Lodhi Estate could be allotted to him. "It has to be said, however, that Dilip Kumar never once took any money from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for his accommodation even when no official accommodation was provided for him," said Parmar.

Many MPs do not vacate their flats once their term ends. They prefer to stay on paying guest charges. "To prevent this, we have raised the guest charges from Rs 2,500-3,000 to Rs 18,000-19,000," said Parmar.

Bungalows are not the only in-demand accommodation. "There are some MPs who prefer to stay in smaller units, just because these places have proven lucky for them. GK Vasan, son of late GK Moopanar stays in the Western Court rooms, where his father stayed. He feels attached to the location and also considers it lucky as well," Parmar said.

It is also ironical that one of the city's biggest hoteliers is still hunting for a house.