As there is no IAS headquarters in the UT, Indira Nagar Guest House in Gorimedu is being turned into a residential building.
Two IAS officers - D K Mishra, Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, and P R Meena, Secretary, PWD - have been staying in two VIP suits of the guest house from June last year while Chief Secretary Chetan B Sanghi, who joined the administration recently, started residing there from May 15.
There are 10 IAS quarters in the UT, out of which only one is vacant. Two IAS officers who were transferred out of Puducherry have saught permission to retain their quarters. Former Chief Secretary M Sathiyavathy who has been transferred to Mizorum has been allowed to retain her quarters, but former development commissioner Raajiv Yaaduvanshi, who has been transferred to New Delhi, is still awaiting a decision, according to information obtained by P Raghupathy, president of Rajiv Gandhi Human Rights Awareness Organisation.
Due to a lack of vacancies in the IAS quarters, incoming officers are forced to find accommodation in the guest house for a long period of time, in turn, sending tourists to hotels. Moreover, the tariffs paid by the officers is much lower than that paid by tourists for the same rooms, running the establishment into a loss, says Raghupathy.