Updated On: 13 July, 2010 07:01 AM IST | | Khalid A-H Ansari
Former asylum seekers live in Rs 147-crore five-bedroom spread in London -- costing taxpayers a whopping Rs 5.6 lakh a month
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Former asylum seekers live in Rs 147-crore five-bedroom spread in London -- costing taxpayers a whopping Rs 5.6 lakh a month
An extraordinary case that has made front-page headlines in the British media demonstrates the absurd lengths to which some undeserving people will go in order to take unfair advantage of laxity in the administration of well-intentioned benefits for citizens of a welfare state.
It also highlights the supercilious generosity of some local government functionaries in spending the hard-earned money of already burdened, unsuspecting tax-payers.
Does it remind you of the situation in India? It does to me!
A family of former asylum-seekers from Somalia are living in a ufffd2.1 million (Rs 147 crore) luxury five-bedroom townhouse in one of Britain's most exclusive addresses in London's posh Kensington area.
Lavish housing
The rent for the swish lodgings, in a neighbourhood boasting of the city's creme de la creme, is estimated at
ufffd8,000 (Rs 5.6 lakh) a month and has been approved by the city council entirely at the tax payers' cost as part of state benefits.
Local rules allow anyone who is eligible for housing benefit to claim for a private property in any part of the country they wish.
Powerless council
The council said it had a responsibility to meet the needs of claimants who were eligible for benefits and was powerless to stop people moving into private accommodation in the area, which became famous because the late Princess Diana often attended theatrical performances there.
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