Bhopal, Sep 24 (IANS): Chief Minister Mohan Yadav-led Madhya Pradesh government has decided to build a multi-story rest house for the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

The new rest house will be built at the old rest house premises in Arera Hills, within 10 km from the state assembly house. At first, 102 3-BHK flats will be constructed after demolishing the old rest house for MLAs.

For this, an amount of Rs 159.13 crore has been approved by the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday. The fund was allocated after getting mandatory approval from the state assembly.

Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla told the press that the Public Works Department (PWD) will construct the five-story guest house, which will have as many as 102 flats.

"The old building of MLA rest house at block 5 will be demolished and a five-story building will be constructed at the same place. The new rest house will have 3-BHK flats," Shukla said.

The new flats will be more spacious and have 3 bedrooms and a hall. These flats will be constructed by razing two family blocks of MLA Rest House.

"A lot of people come to meet their MLAs during the Assembly sessions. Due to the lack of adequate space, the legislators find it difficult to handle the crowd. The new rest house will have enough space," Shukla told the press.

The existing rest house for Madhya Pradesh legislators was built in 1958, and there has been growing demand for a multi-story rest house. The proposal for building the new rest house has been pending since 2010 due to various reasons, including a lack of funds from the state government.

In 2013, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took cognizance of the project and later offered conditional approval after clearing the riders put by the Tribunal.

Madhya Pradesh has a total of 230 assembly seats. In the last election held in November 2023, the ruling BJP won 163 while the Congress got 66 seats only.