New MLA Quarters look cleaner?

HYDERABAD: Contrary to the popular perception that the official quarters of our legislators are well-maintained and posh, the New MLA Quarters at Adarshnagar here presents a grim picture. Though Assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar’s visit to the quarters on Wednesday brought to light a few unhygienic conditions prevailing there, the actual conditions seem to be worse with no maintenance worth the name.A day after the Assembly Speaker’s surprise visit, the premises wore a better look on Thursday. The corridors were a little cleaner, the litter was cleared from the gardens and the employees were in their seats. “This cosmetic change is just for a couple of days and when things become routine, you do not want to roam in the corridors or the premises. Many visitors prefer to stay indoors or go out to get their work done,” said a securityman. He said the garden was littered with papers and plastic covers for most of the time, while the corridor walls and staircases still had stains of pan and the like. With the speaker ordering closure of the canteen for lack of hygiene, visitors  had difficulty having lunch there and had to go out for food.None of the lifts in the two-storeyed blocks is functioning. Worse, most of those are being used as dustbins crammed with the wrappers of food packets and other eatables, cigarette packets and carry-bags thrown inside. The premises is maintained by a private house-keeping company, Krishna Constructions, but its staff say they are responsible only for maintenance of the corridors, internal roads and cleaning of toilets.“The lifts are not used by any of the MLAs. For maintenance of their rooms a few MLAs have hired staff. However, not many of them use it for residential purpose,” said a house-keeping supervisor. On condition of anonymity, he admitted that though the quarters were sanctioned to the legislators for residing, most of them use the rooms as their office or to provide accommodation for their friends, relatives and other guests.On the other hand, the Old MLA Quarters at Hyderguda are in a better condition. Unlike the new quarters where the security personnel do not bother to check who is entering the premises, the security staff at the old quarters do not allow any person to enter without proper identification or revealing the purpose of visit. Meanwhile, the Assembly staff are working out on how to provide accommodation for 27 MLAs who were elected in 2009 but have not been allotted quarters.