Official residences for 20 ministers allotted; rented house for Anoop Jacob

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has officially issued an order allocating official residences to 20 out of the 21 cabinet ministers. Due to a shortage of available state-owned mansions, Minister Anoop Jacob will be provided with rented accommodation funded by the government.

The government has granted an overall administrative sanction of ₹3.95 crore for the repair and maintenance of these ministerial bungalows. Notably, Chief Minister has rejected an initial ₹1.35 crore renovation plan for his official residence, 'Cliff House', citing excessive expenditure. Following the CM's directive to avoid lavish spending, the Public Works Department (PWD) Buildings Division has commenced work on a scaled-down, revised estimate.

Among the designated properties, 'Manmohan Bungalow' tops the renovation expenditure list, with an allocation of ₹81.06 lakh for its refurbishment. It is closely followed by 'Ajantha' at ₹58.74 lakh.

Allocation of official bungalows and maintenance expenditure breakdown:

• Manmohan Bungalow (Allocated to O J Janeesh) – ₹81.06 Lakh
• Ajantha (Allocated to M Liju) – ₹58.74 Lakh
• Nest (Allocated to N. Shamsudheen) – ₹40.67 Lakh
• Kowdiar House (Allocated to V E Abdul Gafoor) – ₹40.06 Lakh
• Ushas (Allocated to P K Basheer) – ₹40.03 Lakh
• Ganga (Allocated to T Siddique) – ₹31.53 Lakh
• Pampa (Allocated to Ramesh Chennithala) – ₹31.43 Lakh
• Periyar (Allocated to Mons Joseph) – ₹31.26 Lakh

Other prominent official quarters allocated to the ministers include:

• Xanadu: K Muraleedharan
• Lyntruss: P K Kunhalikutty
• Ashoka: Sunny Joseph
• Kaveri: M P Anilkumar
• Nila: P C Vishnunath
• Grace: Roji M John
• Thycaud House: Bindu Krishna
• Prashanth: K A Thulasi
• Pournami: K M Shaji
• Essendene: Shibu Baby John
• Rose House: C P John