Members of Parliament (MPs) are getting a big boost in their renovation budget for their official homes. Recently, a committee in the House raised the spending limit for repairs from ₹1.5 lakh (150,000 rupees) to ₹5 lakh (500,000 rupees), which is more than a 230% increase. This change is great for MPs because they often need to make changes or updates to their homes, such as their workspaces and guest rooms.
The Lok Sabha secretariat announced this new budget limit, stating that the House committee is in charge of everything related to MPs’ housing in New Delhi. Many MPs have asked the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for help to make these changes. The CPWD is the only group allowed to do construction work on government properties in this area.
The circular from the Lok Sabha said that the CPWD must check the cost estimates submitted to them and follow all the necessary rules while making these changes. The new renovations cannot cost more than ₹5 lakh and will need the committee’s approval. There are also certain guidelines that say no changes can be made without the approval of an architect and the ministry.
In the past, the government spent ₹193 crore (1.93 billion rupees) over five years to fix and update the MPs’ homes in the famous Lutyens’ area. The then housing minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, shared that there is no limit on how much the government can spend on repairs. While these Lutyens’ homes are considered old and important, the Narendra Modi government has also built new duplex homes for MPs in North Avenue by tearing down some of the older buildings.
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