LAHORE Aug 10: The Punjab government has fixed Rs800,000 for repair, renovation or alteration for an official residence in a two-year period after seven top bureaucrats spent ‘lavishly’ under the head in the last regime on their GOR-I accommodations.

A senior officer of the provincial government told Dawn that the decision was taken to check such “lavish” spending in the future. He said no legal action could be initiated against the bureaucrats in question as there was no fixed ceiling in the past.

According to a source, the seven bureaucrats had spent over Rs27 million on repair, renovation or alteration of as many of the GOR-I accommodations in the last couple of years.

The source confided that the spending was equal to that of 30 per cent of the total repair and alteration budget allocated to all six GORs in Lahore for 2008-09 fiscal.

The source added the money was spent on wooden floor rooms, aluminium windows, new bathrooms, Spanish tiles, marble floors, new kitchens and new servant quarters. In some cases the whole façade of the house was changed, rebuilt and extended.

He said over Rs9.3 million were spent on 16-Golf Road in the last five years whose year-wise break-up is as: Rs1.7 million were spent in 2003-04, Rs700,000 in 2004-05, Rs2.32 million in 2005-06, Rs1.3 million in 2006-07 and Rs3.23 million in 2007-08. Up to Rs0.19 million were spent on 11-Golf Road residence in 2001-02, Rs2.07 million in 2003-04, and Rs1.1 million in 2007-08. Similarly, on 14-Golf Road residence, Rs4.84 million were spent in 2004-05, Rs0.4 million in 2005-06, Rs0.7 million in 2006-07 and Rs1.16 million in 2007-08.

An amount of Rs1.2 million was spent on 8-Golf Road in 2003-04, Rs0.6 million in 2006-07 and Rs1.07 million in 2007-08. An amount of Rs0.3 million was spent on 15 Golf Lane residence in 2004-05, Rs0.11 million in 2006-07 and Rs0.7million in 2007-08. An amount of Rs1.5 million in 2006-07 was spent on 1-C Club Road residence.

The total budget of the repairs, renovations and alteration of GORs was reduced in the current fiscal year. It was Rs100.8 million for six GORs and Rs80 million for government officers' colonies in the fiscal year 2007-08. This has been reduced up to Rs90 million for the GORs and Rs50 million for the government owned residential colonies in the current fiscal year 2008-09, respectively.