ANNEXURE-A

[See paragraph 264-A (ii)]

General Principles for the Construction, Acquisition or Leasing of Residences for Government Officials

1. Residences may be leased, built or purchased by Government—

(i) when it is the recognized duty or established custom of the Government to provide quarters at Government expense;

(ii) when it is necessary on public grounds, for the officer to reside on, or close to, the premises in which his duties have to be performed, such as jail, a police station, a school, a factory, etc. ;

(iii) when it is necessary to provide residences in part of the country where no civil station or cantonment exists, and where a lengthened term of residence would render camp accommodation unsuitable, e.g. buildings along lines of roads or canals, for the housing of officials employed on their construction or maintenance ;

(iv) when it is shown to the satisfaction of Government that suitable house accommodation for officers, whose appointments are permanent, in respect of locality is not available in a civil station or cantonment already in existence, or is available only under circumstances which will be likely to place such officers in an undesirable position in relation to house proprietors.

2. Before submitting a proposal to Government for the construction or purchase of residence for a Government official the head of the department concerned should consider whether the requisite accommodation cannot be more conveniently provided by taking an existing building on lease with the sanction of Government. Every such proposal for the leasing of such buildings should show clearly—

(i) the sum payable annually to the lessor ;

(ii) whether all repairs will be executed by the lessor and, if not ;

(iii) the estimated annual charges for maintenance and repairs, if they are to be executed by Government ;

(iv) in cases in which Government is liable to pay the municipal taxes, the amount of such taxes ;

(v) the standard rent of the residence under Fundamental Rule 45-A-III, and

(vi) the average emoluments of the posts to which the residence is to be allotted. The average should be calculated separately on the basis of the pre-1972, and post 1972 scales of pay of the post.

The proposal should show distinctly that the scale of accommodation is not in excess of that which is appropriate to the status of the officer.

The lease should be executed in Form no. 30-H.

3. All proposals to Government to construct or purchase a residential building for a Government servant when it is not possible to take an existing building on lease under the conditions of paragraph 2, should contain full information on the following points—

(i) that the conditions of Fundamental Rule 54-A-IV (a) will be fulfilled ;

(ii) the probable capital cost, the average annual cost of maintenance including taxes and the standard rent under Fundamental Rule 45-A—III ;

(iii) the average emoluments of the post to which the residence is to be allotted. The average should be calculated separately on the basis of the pre-1972, and post-1972 scales of pay of the post.

4. As a rule no proposals should be made for the supply of accommodation in excess of a scale appropriate to the status of the occupant, but when under some unavoidable circumstances a departure from the principles is found necessary the proposal should have the approval of the Finance Department of the Government. Subject to this main principle, every proposal should as far as possible be so formulated that the standard rent does not exceed the maximum rent ordinarily recoverable from the occupant under the Fundamental Rules.

5. When the question of building or purchasing a residence is actually taken up, the Government should decide the amount of capital expenditure to be incurred on it after taking into consideration the different scales of pay attached to the post to which the residence will be allotted.

6. Procedure in the case of application for reduction of rent—All applications for sanction to reduce the rents of Government buildings occupied as residences below the amounts which should be charged under the rules must be accompanied by a tabular form in which should be shown the undermentioned particulars :

(1) Value of building and site ;

(2) Average annual charges for maintenance—

(a) special, and

(b) ordinary.

(3) Actual or estimated value of the house and site ;

(4) Proportion of total area occupied by office, (if any) ;

(5) Deduction on account of office rent, (if any) ;

(6) Rent that would be payable by an occupant ;

(7) Rent that is proposed ;

(8) Average emoluments of occupant ;

(9) Market rate for similar accommodation in the same station (to be given as far as practicable) ;

(10) Average rent chargeable under these rules for other Government buildings with, as nearly as may be, similar accommodation (to be given as far as practicable).

NOTE—The above particulars are not required when an officer applies for remission of part of the rent for such period as a portion of his residence becomes uninhabitable due to the execution of special repairs.

7. In all cases in which it is proposed to exempt an officer from payment of rent, the undermentioned particulars should invariable accompany the application :

(a) Actual or estimated value of the house and site;

(b) Rent chargeable under the rules ;

(d) Date from which it is proposed to grant the privilege of free quarters ;

(e) Specific grounds on which the concession is recommended.

NOTE—When a well in a Government residential building is dry or otherwise unfit for use and the tenant is put to additional expenses to arrange for the supply of water for a continuous period of not less than two months, a remission of rent assessed on the capital cost of the well may be allowed, with the sanction of Government, if the capital cost of the building includes such cost; provided that the cost of the well exceeds one per cent of the capital cost of the residence or Rs. 500 whichever is less. The remission should cease as soon as the well cases to be dry or unfit for use.

8. Additions and improvements to buildings for which special reduced rents have been sanctioned by Government.—

When additions or improvements are carried out involving an increase in capital value, the rent shall be revised in accordance with the rules and, if the residence is one for which a special reduced rent has been sanctioned by Government the reduced rent shall be increased by the same amount as the standard rent would have been increased, had no concessional rent been sanctioned.

When a special reduced rent has been sanctioned on account of certain defects, the original standard rent should be recovered as soon as those defects have been removed, even if their removal does not involve work which is classified as "original works."

Proposals for additions or improvement to residences which are occupied rent-free, or for part of the year only, should be jealously scrutinized.

9. Liability to rent for new buildings and for additions and alterations—

(a) The officer-in-charge of the building should fix under the provisions of Fundamental Rule 45-A-III(b) and with reference to special orders, if any, passed by Government, the approximate rate of rent to be recovered and should give notice thereof to the officer for whom the building is intended, one month in advance of its probable date of completion. Immediately the building is fit for occupation, the officer-in-charge of the building should intimate the fact of its completion to the officer concerned. The liability to rent commences from a date one week after the date of receipt of the intimation by the officer, and the rent should be recovered in accordance with rules, whether the building has been occupied within that time or not. The rent so fixed will be subject to adjustments later, should the rent finally sanctioned by the competent authority under Fundamental Rule 45-A—III-(b) differ from that decided upon by the officer-in-charge of the building.

(b) When additions and alterations to a residential building necessitate a revision of rent under Subsidiary Rule 20-C, the officer-in-charge of the building will provisionally fix the revised rate of rent to be charged from the date of occupancy. When the alterations and additions, which have necessitated revision of the rent, have been carried out during occupation of the building the date of occupancy shall be taken to be the date on which the work was completed and the portion of the building affected was fit for use. When the alterations and additions have been carried out during a period of non-occupancy the Head of the Department shall decide what date shall be regarded as the date of occupancy. The provisional rate or rent fixed by the officer-in-charge will be subject to modification with retrospective effect when the final rent statement is sanctioned by competent authority.

10. Revision of rent—To comply with the provisions of Subsidiary Rule 20-C, a register will be maintained in Form no. 20-A and rent statements revised in accordance with the instructions laid down in paragraph 282-A.

11. Damage to residential buildings by tenants—Every officer for whom a Government residence has been provided is bound to leave it in a fit state for occupation by his successor and will be required to pay the cost of any special painting white-washing, cleaning or other repairs which may be rendered necessary by any improper use of building. In order to give effect to this rule and to see that the quarters have been handed over for occupation in thoroughly good order, the officer-in-charge of the building should arrange to have each residential building inspected immediately after it is vacated. The incoming tenant will also be responsible for bringing to the notice of the officer-in-charge of the building any special damage at the time he enters the building.

NOTE—The intention of the rule is that while repairs occasioned by natural wear and tear should be carried out at Government cost, or be executed by the lessor, as the case may be, damage to Government property which can be proved to be due to culpable carelessness on the part of tenants should be charged to them.

12. Care of vacant buildings—The local officer-in-charge of each building that may become vacant should make some person of his establishment answerable for its general condition. In addition he should appoint a mali-chaukidar to be in immediate charge of the building and for the upkeep of the garden, if any. In cases, where the garden is maintained by Government and not by the tenant, however, the full garden staff may be retained for the first-three months of the period during which the building remains vacant. The pay of the garden staff and the mali-chaukidar will be charged to the annual repair estimate for the building.

NOTE—The expression "Local Officer" is defined in paragraph 265 of this Handbook.

13. To ensure the proper upkeep of the compounds attached to Government buildings, including residences in charge of the Public Works Department, the following rules should be observed :

(1) The occupant of a Government building or residence is responsible for the proper care and upkeep of the trees, shrubs and hedges in the compound and will also see that the compound is kept in proper order.

(2) No tree or main branch of a tree shall be cut without the concurrence of the officer-in-charge of the building.

(3) The ground of the compound shall, not without the concurrence of the officer-in-charge of the building be broken for any purpose except that of "gardening" in the ordinary sense of the word, and this sense shall not include the digging of pits, ponds or wells for watering purposes.

(4) Bushes and shrubs planted in the ground are the property of the Government and may not be cut down or removed from the compound without concurrence of the officer-in-charge of the building, but his concurrence shall not be required for such, cutting down, uprooting or trimming of any bush or shrub or lopping of any tree as may be necessary for the proper maintenance of the garden.

(5) (a) The officer-in-charge of the building will report to the Head of the Department any breach of the above rules which may come to his notice.

(b) The compound of jails and mental hospitals are exempted from the operation of the above rules and will be in sole charge of the superintendents.

(6) These rules do not apply to the compounds of the official residences of the Governor.

14. Tenants are allowed the enjoyment of the usufruct of trees provided the compounds are maintained entirely at their expense.