‘Rooms on rent' boards outside PDKV VC bungalow create flutter

Time of India

6 days ago

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Nagpur: You can now rent rooms at the Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) vice chancellor's bungalow at Bajaj Nagar Square. You can also rent the meeting rooms or conference halls in the PDKV guest house in the same premises.
The advertisements put up outside the campus say so, though PDKV officials deny any arrangement of this sort with the maintenance contractor appointed there.
The VC's bungalow mostly remains vacant as PDKV VC Sharad Gadakh is stationed at the university's Akola headquarters. When TOI asked associate dean Prakash Kadu about the rooms on rent, he said instructions have been given to remove the board, but admitted the guest house has been outsourced for annual maintenance and housekeeping to a third-party contractor.
Kadu agreed that it was wrong to advertise the PDKV property in such a way, and said that the rooms in the guest house can be booked only through referral by a PDKV officer.
"Around 12 rooms are built in the new guest house while renovation work is going on in the old guest house. The rooms are mostly occupied by govt officials or their family members. Outsiders can't book rooms directly," he said.
Kadu mentioned that some other govt-owned guest houses too have been outsourced in a similar fashion due to a shortage of full-time staff.
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However, no other govt-owned guest house on Central Bazaar Road or East High Court Road displays such advertisements.
"The Class IV staff strength has dropped from 400 to 80, and there is hardly any staff to take care of these large properties. In the next few years, these regular employees too will retire. Hence, the university decided to outsource the guest house. The contractor pays Rs11 lakh annually to PDKV. He is supposed to earn by renting rooms for Rs500 to Rs700, and Rs1,200 for outsiders on referral," Kadu said.
On Wednesday evening, TOI found the boards still in place outside the PDKV VC's bungalow as well as the guest house. When asked, the staff at the PDKV VC's bungalow said anyone can book the guest house and there was no need to bring any referral letter. The rates quoted too were higher than what Kadu mentioned. As per the staff, rooms are available for Rs1,800 to Rs2,400 for outsiders, with check-in and check-out timings like at regular hotels.
Later, when TOI called Kadu to inform him about the boards, and outsiders being allowed to rent rooms, he didn't answer the calls. The contractor too didn't answer TOI's calls.