No ONGC Mumbai guesthouse
In Indian culture, guests are treated like gods.
But sadly, ONGC is not paying attention to this for its serving and retired employees, who no longer have a guesthouse available when they visit Mumbai. On April 19 (2023), ONGC ex-employees Welfare Association (OSEWA-Mumbai) president LK Mirchandani wrote to Mumbai-based executive director of human resources Vijay Raj, asking why the company has not rented a new guesthouse since closing the old one in Santacruz.
Mirchandani is upset that there is no guesthouse for employees travelling in from offshore assignments in the Mumbai High or retired employees from across the country in places like Assam who need to travel to the country's financial hub for medical treatment. "In a city like Mumbai, the guesthouse is unavailable; it's not a happy situation," says Mirchandani.
"Additional expenditure is incurred on hotel bills for serving employees arriving from offshore duties; no one is talking of corruption." Mirchandani cannot fathom how the Santacruz facility, which had two buildings with hundreds of rooms, closed on March 13 (2020).
"Nearly Rs100cr ($12.2m) was spent on renovation in 2005-6," Mirchandani tells us. "What report is available on structural stability? How can both buildings have structural instability?" Mirchandani says chairman Arun Singh stays in a refurbished house temporarily in Bandra.
According to an ONGC notice issued on March 15 (2023), some hotels are listed for executives: Regency Hotel in Santacruz, Hotel Parle International in Vile Parle, and The Emerald - Hotel & Executive Apartments and Hotel Ajanta in Juhu. Mirchandani says ONGC owns plenty of property, which it should use more wisely.
"I have written to the chairman and oil ministry on real estate monetisation," he says. When the Santacruz building was closing, a guest named Kaustubh wrote on indiapl.com: "The building is in pathetic condition; it has good rooms, clearly liveable and affordable for its low price; this building has served its term and should be considered for renovation."