Delhi : Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Thursday warned that eviction notices will be issued to officials occupying offices within the Assembly premises if they do not vacate them.
Gupta addressed the issue after MLAs, including Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Karnail Singh, raised concerns about assembly committees lacking office space for meetings.
“If we are not provided with rooms, we will set up chairs outside your office and hold a meeting,” Marwah said in the House.
The Speaker acknowledged the problem, noting that he has been unable to provide separate rooms for even the important committees. “As many as three committees share one room. There are 25 committee chairmen, but only 11 available rooms. This is unjust for the Assembly, as bureaucrats are occupying these spaces,” he explained.
Gupta pointed out that the Pharmacy Council currently occupies eight rooms, and the Directorate of Education is also using office space.
“They are unwilling to leave, and I have spoken to the education minister about this. Committee chairmen approached me regarding this issue, and I feel humiliated. Only dialogue and legislative business should be conducted here. Perhaps this legislature is weak; the babus are not ready to relocate,” he said.
“If eviction notices are issued in the future, which is within my authority, it will not be an ideal situation,” he added.
Delhi Environment and Industries Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the situation, assuring the Speaker that, “We will find a solution and take action soon. Some departments are occupying the offices, we will see what the issues are and address them, accordingly.”
Atitshi, the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, stated that the allotment of rooms should follow a structured process. “The protocol of an MLA is equivalent to that of the CS. If offices are not being vacated, the heads of departments should be summoned, and action should be taken,” she said.
On May 30, Gupta wrote to Chief Secretary Dharmendra, requesting his intervention to direct departments to vacate spaces they occupy within the Assembly premises.
He indicated that a significant portion of the building is occupied by the Directorate of Education, Delhi Pharmacy Council and the publication division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the functioning of their offices, which would need to be vacated on priority.
Some MLAs also raised the issue of not having offices in their constituencies. BJP Chief Whip in Delhi Assembly Abhay Verma mentioned that there is no SOP for the allotment of office spaces to MLAs.
“We’ve observed that those who can negotiate have received offices, while others have not. In some cases, rent has not been paid for ten years. An SOP has been drafted for the allocation of office space to MLAs and sent to the government for cabinet approval. This will resolve the backlog of the last decade and streamline the process for the future,” he said.
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