ISLAMABAD, June 16: A house on the premises of theNational Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) at H-8/1 has been vacated and is being white washed, and there are reports that a federal minister may move in.

The NISTE house spreads over two kanals and has 12 rooms and eight air conditioners. Former minister for education Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani also lived in the house between 2009 and 2010 and spent Rs4 million on its renovation, said the sources.

A senior officer of NISTE, requesting not to be named, said after becoming federal minister Mr Gondal had been looking for a residence which was safe from security point of view.

“On June 8, Mr Gondal along with Secretary CADD Imtiaz Inayat Elahi and Joint Secretary Noor Zaman visited NISTE and also went into the house. He appreciated the construction and instructed director-general NISTE Mohammad Salman Khan to get the house white washed,” he said.

He added that the DG had no option but to vacate the house and now Professor Abdul Sabooh, who is also the estate officer, is looking after the renovation work.

Media coordinator for NISTE Qazi Shoaib said he had been told that the DG house had been declared as a guest house and officials coming for training would stay there.

However, another official rejected the assertion and said how the DG could vacate his residence for officials coming to attend training programmes.

When this reporter visited the house, estate officer Abdul Sabooh was looking after the renovation work. He said after completion of the whitewash the DG would start living in the house again. When told that the house had been converted into a guesthouse, he said he had also heard about it.

Director General NISTE Salman Ahmed Khan while talking to Dawn said he did not like to live in an air-conditioned environment and had decided to shift somewhere else. In reply to a question, he said it was not in his knowledge if the minister was planning to stay in the house.

Joint Secretary CADD Noor Zaman confirmed that he had visited NISTE along with the minister. “Though the minister has ordered white washing of the building it is not in my knowledge whether he wants to live in the house,’ he added.

The minister could not be contacted for comments; however, his media coordinator Mohammad Saleh said in the past former minister Mr Bijarani had also lived in the house so some friends of Mr Gondal suggested that he should shift to the house. But so far the minister has not taken a final decision, he said.