Government Residence House Allotment Policy dt 07.05.2018

Government Residence House Allotment Policy dt 07.05.2018

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Residence House

The Governor, Punjab has been pleased to approve amendments in the Allotment Policy of Government of the Punjab, S&GAD. I am, therefore, directed to enclose herewith a copy of the Allotment Policy of Government of the Punjab, S&GAD, 1997, amended up to 02.05.2018 for information, implementation and further guidance.

POLICY GOVERNING ALLOTMENT OF GOVERNMENT RESIDENCES

1. This policy will supersede all previous letters / instructions / policy governing the allotment of Government owned residential accommodation issued from time to time.

2. Details of various types of Government owned residences in different GORS/Colonies at Lahore and the Government servants who are entitled to these residences are given in (Appendix-I).

3. Houses listed in (Appendix-II) are at the disposal of Lahore High Court for allotment to Honorable Judges and other senior officers of judiciary. Allotment of these houses shall be made by the Lahore High Court, Lahore.

4. Houses listed in (Appendix-III) are reserved for the Chief Minister, Ministers of the Cabinet, Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Provincial Assembly. Administrative control of the Speakers and Deputy Speakers Houses would rest with the Secretary Provincial Assembly.

5. Houses listed in (Appendix-IV) are designated houses for the Chief Secretary, Inspector General of Police, DIG Lahore Range, Commissioner, Lahore Division, Lahore, District Coordination Officer, Lahore and SSP, Lahore. The administrative control of these houses shall rest with the Estate Office.

6. The Additional Chief Secretary, Government of the Punjab shall be the competent authority for allotment of Government owned accommodations at Lahore other than those which have been placed under the administrative control of the Lahore High Court, Secretary, Provincial Assembly Punjab and District Coordination Officer, Lahore. He may delegate powers of allotment / exchange of certain categories of houses to any other officer of the Provincial Government. The Additional Secretary (Welfare), Government of the Punjab, shall be the Competent Authority for allotment of 2-room Junior and single room accommodations.

7. Only the Govt. servants posted at the Principal Seat, Lahore High Court, Lahore, Punjab Civil Secretariat i.e. borne on the cadre strength of S&GAD and Provincial Assembly of Punjab, posted at Lahore, are eligible for allotment of Government owned accommodation. A Govt. a servant who is transferred out of Lahore or out of the institutions referred above will lose his eligibility after expiry of the period for which he or his family can retain possession of the residential accommodation as specified in para-33.

7 A. In case of non availability of Government accommodation for allotment, the employees of Punjab Civil Secretariat, borne at the cadre strength of S&GAD, shall be entitled for the facility of House Requisition as per their entitlement, after obtaining an eligibility certificate issued by the Estate Office, S&GAD through approval of the Additional Secretary (Welfare), S&GAD. A government servant who is transferred out of Lahore or is no more serving at the cadre strength of S&GAD in Punjab Civil Secretariat will lose his eligibility or facility of house requisition after three months of the date of his transfer. Moreover, if an occupant of a government residence from the pool of residences of S&GAD intends to get benefit of the facility of house requisition, he/she will have to handover the possession of his/her allotted residence to Welfare Wing, S&GAD and obtain the above said eligibility certificate issued by the Estate Office, S&GAD through approval of the Additional Secretary (Welfare). In case of availing the facility of House requisition/Self hiring, the said officer/official shall not be entitled to house rent allowance.

8. All the Sub Divisional Officers of the GORS and Colonies will be the custodian of property situated in their respective areas.

9.All Government servants seeking official residential accommodation will get Allotment Policy-2018 themselves registered with the Estate Office through their departments on the prescribed form given in (Appendix-V). The Estate Office shall maintain a list of all Government servants who get themselves registered and will issue a registration number. The list will be prepared on the basis of the date of registration. If two or more persons get themselves registered on the same date, the senior amongst them on the basis of appointment to a post in the basic scale of entitlement to the particular category of residence will rank higher than the others.

10. The officer/official posted against technical quota or on deputation basis in Punjab Civil Secretariat shall not be eligible for registration unless he/she completes two years service tenure against such technical/ deputation post.

REGISTRATION

11. If a Government servant who registers himself is transferred back to Lahore within a period of eight months, he/she would not be required to get himself/ herself registered with the Estate Office afresh.

12. If a Government servant, eligible for allotment out of pool of S&GAD and registered with the Estate Office, S&GAD for allotment, is transferred out of Lahore before a house is allotted, he/she will retain the same registration if he/she is transferred back to Lahore within eight months after his / her transfer out of Lahore.

13. Every Government servant who is allotted a house, shall at the time of allotment give a certificate signed by the Head of Office where he is serving stating that he has not been transferred out of Lahore after the date of registration. The allotment in his name shall be cancelled if on verification it is found that he was transferred out of Lahore after the date of registration and before allotment. The Government servant whose allotment is cancelled due to this reason may get himself registered afresh.

14. A Government servant who desires registration for allotment will apply through his Head of Department and subsequent correspondence with the Estate Office will also be made through his Departmental Head. The Estate Office will not entertain any application or reference submitted directly by a Government servant.

ALLOTMENT

15. The Provincial Government has no legal obligation to provide residential accommodation to any Government servant and no Government servant has any vested legal right or claim to the allotment of Government owned residential accommodation.

16. The allotment of Government owned residential accommodation will be made on the principle of ‘first come first served’ basis in accordance with the list maintained by the Estate Office referred to in para-9.

17. No above entitlement allotment is permissible in any policy scheme. The limits of entitlement are given in (Appendix-VI).

18. Below entitlement allotment on out of turn basis is permissible temporarily only for the officers of BS-20 and above. The Competent Authority before making such allotment shall keep in view the pressing circumstances of the applicant along with the documentary evidence submitted by the applicant in this regard.

19. As per advice of the Law Department, the Government can cancel any allotment order issued subject to vacation basis without any show cause notice provided the new allottee has not taken over possession of the allotted house.

20. If a Government servant does not occupy a newly allotted residence within 10 days of its availability for occupation, his allotment will be cancelled after a show cause notice and his name will be removed from the registration list. However such Government servants can get himself registered afresh with the Estate Office in the relevant category.

21. If a Government servant is transferred out of Punjab before taking possession of the allotted house, his allotment / exchange shall stand cancelled automatically.

22. If a Government servant is transferred out of Lahore before taking possession of the allotted house, his allotment / exchange shall stand for a period of one year.

23. All allotment orders issued by the Estate Officer will be countersigned / verified by the Additional Secretary (Welfare), S&GAD.

SURRENDERING AND DECLINING OF ALLOTMENT

24. No Government servant will be allowed to surrender the allotment in favour of any particular person. Allotment of a Government servant who offers to surrender his accommodation in favour of a particular person shall be cancelled and the said accommodation shall be allotted to the next eligible candidate in accordance with the list maintained by the Estate Office.

• If a ‘A’ or ‘B’ type Government residence is declined by a candidate, he would not be offered any other Government residence before a period of 6-months. And if a house is declined twice by the same candidate, he would be placed at the bottom in the respective seniority list.
• If a Government residence is declined by a candidate once, he would not be offered any other Government residence during one year up to C-category and if a house is declined twice by the same candidate, he would also be placed at the bottom in the respective seniority list.

25. If any allottee becomes entitled to a better category of accommodation, he should get himself registered with the Estate Office and will be registered as a fresh applicant for the better category of accommodation.

HARDSHIP SCHEME

26. Government reserves the right to make out of turn allotment to any Government servant or family of a deceased Government servant on administrative consideration or in extreme hardship cases on the grounds of physical disability or chronic disease of a government servant himself/herself or his/her family members for the reasons to be recorded in writing. The Estate Officer shall maintain a separate list of Government servants who apply for out of turn allotment on extreme hardship basis. A Committee comprising the Additional Chief Secretary (Chairman), Secretary (Services) (Member), Additional Secretary (Welfare) (Member) and Estate Officer (Secretary/Member) will determine the case on management need basis/extreme compassionate grounds/physical disability / serious illness etc. The out of turn allotments for the reasons explained above will be made up to a maximum of 20% of the residences falling vacant in each category in a way that 10% quota may be consumed by the already existing Hardship Committee and 10% for the allotments approved by the Chief Minister, Punjab.

INFORMER SCHEME

27. Any Government servant entitled to allotment of residence, out of the pool of S&GAD and registered with the Estate Office in the category of his/her entitlement, will be allowed allotment of a residence on out of turn basis, if he/she identifies three illegal occupants and actively engages himself/herself in the proceedings resulting in cancellation of allotment of allottees who had inducted illegal occupants into these residences. This scheme is restricted to C type residences.

28. PRIOR RIGHT TO ALLOTMENT:

The following officers shall have prior right to allotment:

• Additional Chief Secretary, Government of the Punjab.
• Chairman, Punjab Public Service Commission.
• Chairman, Planning & Development Board.
• Chairman, Chief Minister’s Inspection Team.
• Secretaries to Government of Punjab.
• Members, Board of Revenue, Punjab
• Special Secretaries to Government of the Punjab, Who are working in BS-20.

29. DESIGNATED RESIDENCES:

Those officers, who are occupying designated houses and as a result of their transfers, are required to vacate the designated houses, if entitled for a house at Lahore, will be given preference over other applicants of their equivalent or lower entitlement, provided that designated house is vacated within a period of two months and this period shall not be extended further in any case.

30. PARENT CONCESSION SCHEME:

In case of single room, 2-rooms junior and 2-rooms senior accommodation: 

a) The allottees on their retirement will be entitled to have their allotments transferred in the names of their real sons / daughters, belonging to the eligible department only and serving in Basic Scale equivalent or higher than required for the allotment of the Government residence subject to rent clearance and all utility bills. The retiring Government servant should apply for such allotment within a period of one year before his / her retirement.

b) The real son/daughter who is a Government servant and is serving in the Basic Scale equivalent or higher than that required for allotment of the accommodation occupied by his / her parents will have a prior right for the allotment of the same house in case of death of an original allottee during service.

c) Government servants inducted under Rule 17-A of Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Condition of Service), Rules, 1974, will be entitled to transfer allotment of single room, 2 room junior and 2 room senior houses, under parent concession scheme, provided the accommodation is according to or below their entitlement and they are inducted into service within permissible period of retention of the accommodation under CSR 5.45.

31. SPOUSE SCHEME:

Government may, in case of death or retirement of a Government servant, transfer his/her accommodation in the name of spouse of the deceased/retired Government servant provided that they are living jointly in the said house and all utility bills are paid up-to-date. Furthermore, the spouse should be a Provincial Government servant serving in Basic Pay scale equivalent to or higher than that required for allotment of the same Govt. residence. The spouse scheme is restricted from single room to 2-room senior categories only. Moreover, if a Government servant is an allottee of 32. EXCHANGE / MUTUAL EXCHANGE OF RESIDENCES:

(a) Exchange / mutual exchange of only the allotments made according to or below entitlement may be allowed by the Additional Secretary (Welfare).

(b) The request of the allottees against whom any dues / rent / utility bills, etc., are pending will not be considered for exchange.

(c) The exchange of residences of the same category shall be at the discretion of Government subject to clearance of house rent and all utility bills. No Government servant, except in hardship cases, will be allowed to exchange his/her government residence before 3 years of its physical occupation and 3 years prior to his/her superannuation. Moreover, the allottees of Govt. residences, belonging to eligible departments only, shall be allowed exchange of Government residences.

(d) Application for exchange of residence will be considered on first come first served basis and the Government servants, desirous of exchange of residences, will have to get themselves registered in the relevant category with the Estate Office for the purpose.

(e) If two allottees are desirous to exchange their residences mutually, such mutual exchange shall be at the discretion of Government provided that none of the allottees is retiring within 3 years of exchange of Govt. residences and the period of physical occupation of the existing residences is not less than 3 years subject to clearance of house rent and all utility bills. Such allottees will have to occupy the exchanged residences within 10 days of the orders of exchange failing which their allotments will stand cancelled automatically. Furthermore, the allottees of Govt. residences, who have been allotted residences before adoption of Allotment Policy, 1997, belonging to eligible departments only, shall be allowed mutual exchange of residences.

(f) If turn of an officer is matured and a residence as per his entitlement is not available, he/she shall be allotted a below entitlement residence. This residence shall be exchanged with an entitled residence as and when it becomes available.

33. RETENTION:

As per Rule 5.45 of CSR (Punjab) which is reproduced below:

Where a Government servant to whom a residence has been allotted dies, or dismissed or removed or resigns or retired from service or proceeds for training abroad or is transferred out of the station where the residence is located, his/her family shall be entitled to retain it for the period specified below against each case:

34. CONTRACT EMPLOYEES:

No re-employed person shall be entitled to the allotment or retention of an official accommodation beyond the permissible retention period allowed on retirement/superannuation.

35. EJECTION AND RECOVERY OF POSSESSION:

(a) The following categories of occupants come within the definition of unauthorized occupants:
i. Government servants or their families retaining Government accommodation beyond permissible period as given in para-33.
ii. Occupants in possession of a Government residence without proper allotment order.
iii. Occupants who create nuisance for the inhabitants of that locality.
iv. Allottees who themselves or their families do not physically reside in the house allotted to them, after having taken over the possession, for a prolonged period continuous period exceeding three months.

v. Allottees who induct other persons in the allotted house and the persons so inducted.

vi. Allottees who default in payment of house rent for more than 3 months.

vii. Allottees using officially allotted accommodation for the purpose of any commercial activity.

viii. Occupants who refuse to provide information, relating to allotment and occupation of Government accommodation, to the officers mentioned in para 35(b).

b. An unauthorized occupant will be liable for ejectment. The possession will be recovered in the following manner under Punjab Government Lands & Buildings (Recovery of Possession) Ordinance, 1966. Additional Secretary (Welfare), Estate Officer, Rent Collector / Section Officer (Welfare-IV), Special Judicial Magistrate, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Security), Punjab Civil Secretariat, and Sub Divisional Officers concerned are the officers authorized by the Government under Section 9 of the Ordinance to proceed, inquire and recover the possession, to evict an unauthorized occupant or to recover rent, etc.

c. In case it comes to the notice of the Estate Office that an occupant is an unauthorized occupant as defined above, the Estate Officer or any other person designated by the Additional Secretary (Welfare) shall have an inquiry conducted under Rule 5 of the Ordinance to determine whether or not the occupant is an unauthorized occupant. Such an occupant shall be:

i. Called for personal hearing before Estate Officer or any other officer designated by the Additional Secretary (Welfare) for this purpose who, after due inquiry, shall announce his findings.

ii. The person affected by findings of the inquiry may prefer an appeal before the Additional Secretary (Welfare) within 7 days of announcement of findings of the inquiry.

iii. If it is established that the occupant is an unauthorized occupant, a notice shall be served on him asking him to vacate the residence within 14 days of the receipt of such notice. In case he fails to vacate the residence in 14 days, he shall be forcibly ejected and cost of ejectment will be recovered under Section 7 of the Ordinance.

iv. For the purpose of ejectment of unauthorized occupant, the orders will be issued by the Additional Secretary (Welfare) to the Special Judicial Magistrate to proceed under Section 5, 6 & 7 of the said Ordinance.

v. To execute orders issued under Section 35(c)(iv), the Special Judicial Magistrate will be assisted by the D.S.P. (Security), Civil Secretariat, and the force at his disposal. He may also seek further force under Section 6 of the Ordinance from the Police Station of jurisdiction where he is executing the orders.

vi. If, after spot inquiry jointly conducted by the Estate Officer and the Special Judicial Magistrate, it is established that the accommodation is occupied by illegal occupants, then the officers, after recording reasons and in addition to initiation of ejectment proceedings, may immediately get disconnected water, power, and Sui Gas connections of the accommodation.

36. RENT MATTERS

a) All rent matters in respect of houses on the pool of S&GAD will be dealt under Section 8 of the Ordinance through the Rent Controller / Section Officer (Welfare-IV).

b) All Government servants occupying residences will be bound to get house rent deducted from their salaries, as payable according to the rules. Rent / Penal rent of an allotted and occupied residence will be the first charge on the salary of the allottee.

c) All Government servants occupying official residences will be responsible for supplying information regarding deduction of rent from their salaries to the Sub Divisional Officer of their respective Colony / GOR who will send a quarterly consolidated report regarding recovery of the rent to the Rent Controller.

d) In case a Government servant does not occupy an allotted accommodation for more than ten days after its availability on vacation, his allotment will be cancelled.

e) A Government servant occupying a house unauthorizedly and illegally will be charged penal rent @ 60% of his basic salary.

f) The rent / penal rent will be charged even during the pendency of Court cases as per advice of the Law Department.

g) In case of payment of outstanding arrears of rent/penal rent against an allottee, the Additional Chief Secretary, Government of the Punjab, shall be the Competent Authority to allow payment of arrears of rent/penal rent in installments without any interest.

The Government may, from time to time, make further rules/policy/amendments to carry out purposes of this policy. It is being issued with the approval of Chief Minister, Punjab.