Assam IAS Officer Accused of Occupying Public Hall for Personal Storage

Guwahati: Manvendra Pratap Singh, a 2012-batch IAS officer leading the Assam Transport Department, faces heat for allegedly hogging a government community hall. He has held the ground-floor space at the Forest Colony in Rehabari for over two years to store his personal luggage. He moved out of the colony, yet his boxes stayed put.

Singh previously occupied two flats at the Forest Colony, using one to live in and the other to house his excess belongings. He now resides in a unit at the IAS Officers' Colony in Khanapara. Despite vacating his old residential flats, he kept the community hall under his control.

The Assam Forest Department reportedly sent multiple requests to the officer, asking him to clear the premises. His silence remains the issue. The hall is meant for shared use, but current residents and other officers cannot access it. Official reports claim the requests for removal "have fallen on deaf ears."

The standoff calls into question the accountability of high-ranking bureaucrats. Government property is not meant to serve as a private storage locker. The Assam government now faces pressure to prove that public assets are not subject to special exemptions for senior officials. An email request for comment sent by Northeast Now to Singh went unanswered.