The Central Government does not pay rents of MPs private houses, it allots houses to MPs

A photo of a building is being shared widely on social media with a claim that the Central Government is paying a monthly rent of Rs. 2 lakhs for Chidambaram’s rented flat in that building, since 2014. It is also being claimed that the house owners are Nalini and Karti Chidambaram (P Chidambaram’ wife and son). Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.

Claim: Since 2014, the Central Government is paying a monthly rent of Rs. 2 lakhs for Chidambaram’s rented flat, which is owned by his wife and son (Nalini and Karti Chidambaram).      

Fact: The Central Government allots houses to Rajya Sabha MPs. It does not pay rent for private houses. If a MP is living in a private house, other than the allotted house, he has to pay his rent. The house in the photo is reportedly owned by Nalini and Karti Chidambaram in Jor Bagh area (Delhi). If Chidambaram is paying rent for living in that flat, then it is his own money. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.   

When the posted image was run through Google Reverse Image Search, it was found that the house is located in Delhi’s Jor Bagh area and is jointly owned by Nalini and Karti Chidambaram. A person tweeted the same photo and wrote that while Chidambaram is getting arrested at Jor Bagh, Dr. Singhvi is watching from inside the house. The full photo of the house can be found in ‘News18’ article.

On the ‘PGurus’ website, it was found that Chidambaram is staying in that house (owned by his wife and son) since 2014 and is paying a monthly rent of Rs. 2 lakhs. But, nothing was mentioned on that website about Central Government paying the monthly rent.

Rajya Sabha MPs are allotted houses by the Central Government. The Central Government does not pay rents to the private houses if an MP chooses to reside in a private house. Chidambaram was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2016. On the Rajya Sabha website, the address of the house allotted to him can be found. So, the Central Government does not pay to his privately rented house in Jor Bagh.

The procedure for house allotment to Rajya Sabha MPs can be read here and the form to be filled by MPs for the house allotment can be seen here

To sum it up, the Central Government does not pay rents to MPs private houses, it allots houses to MPs.

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