Delhi blew hot, but 31 ACs kept Sheila cool

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 04, 2014:  When Delhiites sweated it out during power cuts last summer, it seems, the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress and her staff were enjoying the best of comforts of 31 air conditioners and over a dozen desert coolers at her official residence.

A Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed that the former residence of Dikshit at 3, Motilal Nehru Marg, in central Delhi not just had over two dozen power-guzzling air conditioners but was also equipped with 15 desert coolers, 25 heaters and 12 geysers.

The sprawling property has four bedrooms and other rooms, as well as an office block which was also air-conditioned.

Transparency activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal said the electrical gadgets were fitted at the Dikshit residence during renovation by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which looks after all bungalows in Lutyen’s Delhi. The renovation was done at a cost of over Rs 16 lakh.

Agrawal got the details through an RTI query filed by him in the CPWD, seeking a list of fixtures and equipment removed from the official residence of Dikshit after she shifted to Kerala as governor. He said his objective was to highlight wastage of electricity and also to sensitise people towards saving energy.

“The consumption of electricity and expenses on such a large fleet of electrical equipment (at Dikshit’s former home) can well be imagined, that too at a time when an austerity drive was on,” said Agrawal.

“Our elected representatives should be role models for citizens adopting austerity in their personal lives, especially when it is at the cost of tax-payers’ money,” said the RTI activist.

Claiming that the new incumbent of the bungalow, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, has settled only for facilities that he was entitled to under a budget of Rs 35 lakh, Agrawal sought an inquiry to find if all rules were followed during the renovation of the bungalow for Dikshit.

An inquiry should be conducted into whether the “former Delhi chief minister was entitled to such princely facilities” and action may be taken against officials if they had allowed any irregularities, Agrawal said.