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The accommodation that any government provides representatives of the people or officers and employees is impermanent. It is a perk that must be enjoyed only until the person’s term in office comes to an end. But in many cases, official bungalows or quarters are retained by people despite completion of their terms in office. They are utterly reluctant or take offence when they are asked to vacate. The report that former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s official bungalow was vandalised before he vacated it on the directions of the Supreme Court is a case in point. What makes it worse is that Yadav is said to have issued a veiled threat to officials that governments “come and go” and that they should not “do things like this”, referring to being forced to vacate. “I have seen officials pick up cups and plates; they should not get into such behaviour,” he is reported to have said. Extremities in both cases can be avoided. This kind of behaviour is not new in India. Former president Shankar Dayal Sharma had caused a flutter in the past when he dithered around before vacating the Rashtrapati Bhawan in time for his successor KR Narayanan. It is also common behaviour in Lutyens’ Delhi, where former members of Parliament are known to retain their official bungalows long after their terms end. It is not so that examples of proper behaviour are lacking either within the country or among leaders abroad. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and other leaders have set precedents in proper behaviour in handling and exiting office. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is another example of propriety and dignity of office abroad. Merkel continues to stay in an apartment in central Berlin, although she can very well shift in to the chancellor’s private quarters in the Kanzleramt. Although leaders are offered official accommodations as a means to make their visit to office easy, it is not meant to be clung on to. The malady also permeates down to the bureaucracy. Instances of top-ranking bureaucrats and even officials lower down the order not vacating government quarters in time are not uncommon. In the case of Akhilesh Yadav, if reports are to be believed, much of the official accommodation has been damaged except for a marble temple on premises. It is the same building — 4, Vikramaditya Marg — where Akhilesh had supposedly spent Rs42 crore from the state exchequer on remodelling and refurbishing. Both Akhilesh and father Mulayam, who had been living at the bungalow next door, 5, Vikramaditya Marg, have moved to four suites at the VVIP Guest House of the state government. Official accommodations are generally spartan as they are meant to serve basic comforts to the occupants and not offer them all the luxuries of life. However, it is not uncommon to see these accommodations being refurbished at extra costs to the exchequer to meet needs for luxury. In Akhilesh’s bungalow, he had gotten central air-conditioning and other such additional facilities installed at the state’s expense. The premises also had an all-weather swimming pool, which was found to be filled with sand and its imported tiling broken, according to reports. For someone such as Akhilesh, who as a young leader emerged as a ray of hope not only for the state but also for the country, there is much to lose by such pettiness. The culture of clinging to the trappings of power needs to change, irrespective of which party rules.
