Apart from Luizinho Faleiro who lives there, Goa Niwas is an empty house
The swanky Goa Niwas the State guest house at Chanakyapuri,in New Delhi has courted controversy from day one, either because of poormaintenance or plain mismanagement.
Of late, the place appears to be deserted with hardly anyonemaking use of the guest house. The whole project has turned out to be a hugedrain on public exchequer, as almost Rs 10 lakh per month is being spent onstaff salaries, maintenance of the restaurant, cleanliness and F&Brequirements.
“We have 26 rooms which includes four luxury suites besidesan a/c dormitory. But only two rooms areoccupied. Former Chief Minister, Luizinho Faleiro has been permanently stayingin luxury suite 301 since 2009,” the receptionist at the Goa Niwas countersaid.
The other room is being occupied by a GTDC Engineer, RakeshSharma, who has been staying here for quite some time, the receptionist added.
The Goa Store located at the entrance of the Goa Niwas has beenunder lock and key for quite some time now. A thick coat of dust settled on thecounters of the store gives Goa Niwas a bad name.
“We keep the Niwas clean but the vendor who is incharge ofthe Goa store is not willing to give us the key to the store, so that we couldclean it,” said Rakesh Anand, hospitality incharge at Goa Niwas.
Anand told The Goan that Goa Niwas hosts regular parties ofall MPs including Francisco Sardinha, Sripad Naik and Shantaram Naik. Besidesformer CM, Luizinho Faleiro hosts Goa Day on November 18.
“It’s pretty embarrassing when high profile guests enter andsee the filth at the Goa store,” Anand regretted.
Goa Niwas was a happy hunting ground for monkeys, who wereregular visitors to the swimming pool. The staff fought the monkey menace bykeeping the expensive swimming pool totally drained out of water and keepingall the windows of the Niwas totally shut to ward off the monkeys.
Unfortunately, Goa Niwas does not have chambers either forthe Chief Minister, minister or the Governor. High profile VIPs from the Stateare housed in the old Goa Sadan, while former MLAs, MPs or sitting MLAs opt forthe Goa Niwas.
Goa Sadan and Goa Niwas comes under the Goa AdministrativeDepartment.
