Officers retired or transferred but 40 Huda houses still not vacated

GURUGRAM: Huda seems to be struggling to evict its own officers who are illegally occupying as many as 40 of its houses in Gurgaon. As a result, several senior officials of the urban development authority posted in the city have not been able to get an official accommodation so far.

According to officials, there are two categories of illegal occupants — one occupied by Huda officials who have either been transferred or have retired, and the other is officials from other departments.

"I am waiting for the past one year to get an official accommodation. But officials who have been transferred to other cities, are just not vacating their quarters in Gurgaon, which were allotted to them during their posting here," said a senior Huda official, on condition of anonymity.

Huda gives official accommodations to its officials at a very low rent. The houses are spacious and located at prime locations.

When contacted, Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav admitted that a large numbers of houses belonging to the urban development body are currently occupied by officials of Huda even after their transfer or retirement. "Some of these houses are also occupied by officials of other departments. We are planning to issue notices to illegal occupants," he said.

Ramnivas Thakran of the Huda Employees Union said in many cases, the houses were taken following the deputy commissioner's requisition for a year, but the occupants continued to stay in the house even after expiry of the allotment time.

"Around two dozen houses of Huda are being illegally occupied by officials from other department. Huda should immediately issue eviction notice and impose penalty for overstay," he said.

Another senior Huda official, who is waiting for allotment of a house, also argued for imposition of penalty for overstay. "Till now, Huda has not dealt strongly with the illegal occupants. Huda should deduct penalty and rent (as per market rate) from the salaries of the illegal occupants," he said.