The district administration has decided to conduct an inspection at the NGO quarters at Kakkanad to identify illegal occupants. District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth said the revenue and the PWD officials would form a joint team to identify the people who were illegally occupying the government quarters. It is believed that a large number of government officials, who got retired or were transferred, are still occupying the quarters.
The Collector said the inspection team would post notices on those quarters which do not have residents at the time of the inspection. “The occupants are supposed to respond to these notices. They will have to furnish details of their residence. The details furnished will be cross-checked by the team. If irregularities are found the same will be communicated to the higher authorities. The quarters of those officials who have availed them but are not using them will be sealed. All officials who have been staying in the quarters for more than ten years should register their details with the concerned office at the civil station,” he said.
The administration has also decided to evict occupants who have houses registered in own name or spouse’s name, within 20 kilometres of the office. PWD officials said that the KWA was not ready to give new water connections since dues amounting to Rs 3.20 crores has not been paid. The installation of separate meters to the quarters is being delayed because of this, officials said. The PWD officials also said that the department would accelerate the maintenance work in the staff quarters. According to the data furnished by the PWD, out of 559 quarters, 525 are habitable. There are four types of quarters which are allotted based on the rank. Currently there are 2500 officials in the waiting list. The government has stopped the system of allotting quarters on the basis of the special order and at present quarters are allotted on the basis of the merit.