For prime ministers, having to relinquish office is a painful process. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's forlorn isolation tells its own story but fortunately, the Indian government is very generous when it comes to former heads of government and state. In Vajpayee's case, he will merely move into another piece of prime real estate in Lutyens' Delhi along with a retinue of staff-all at taxpayers' expense.

DUTY-FREE LUXURY: 8 Krishna Menon Marg being readied for Vajpayee

Vajpayee is not alone in his splendid sinecure. There are as many as six former prime ministers, two former presidents and one presidential widow who enjoy a lifetime cost-free perk of sprawling bungalows in the heart of the capital. And this does not include the two bungalows occupied by Sonia Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Vadra.

While Sonia and Priyanka's occupation of prime plots is attributed to the fact that the threat perception to the Gandhis is considered high, it is not so easy to explain why I.K. Gujral has been given a bungalow in Sonia's neighbourhood even though his family owns a house at Maharani Bagh, a posh Delhi colony. Similarly former President R. Venkataraman owns a house in Chennai but retains a rent-free bungalow in Delhi.

In no other country are there so many former heads of state or government living off the exchequer. The three- to four-bedroomed bungalows with beautifully manicured lawns are usually reserved for cabinet ministers. SPG officers might insist that security reasons demand this but Sonia's three-acre estate at 10 Janpath surpasses the residences of cabinet ministers and almost rivals the prime minister's official residence on Race Course Road.

Large bungalows aren't the only perks of high office. All former prime ministers are entitled to benefits afforded to a cabinet minister. This includes a 14-member secretarial staff, office expenses, six domestic executive-class air tickets annually and SPG cover. Says H.D. Shourie, director of public action organisation Common Cause: "They occupy government houses, use government vehicles and staff. There is a heavy drain on the state exchequer."

While former presidents are not entitled to SPG cover they do get to stay in Lutyens' Delhi at the cost of the taxpayer. In some cases his family continues to occupy the property even after their death. Vimla Sharma, widow of Shankar Dayal Sharma, occupies a bungalow on Safdarjung Road though he died in December 1999. Similarly, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed died in office in 1977 but his widow Abida Ahmed occupied a bungalow on Delhi's Akbar Road till her death a few months ago.

Thanks to the benevolence of the government even existing rules about pruning of official staff and SPG cover can be overruled. On paper, a 14-member secretarial staff is allowed for only five years after a prime minister demits office. But the Vajpayee government allowed extensions to both P.V. Narasimha Rao and Gujral.

The SPG cover is another drain. In 2002 there were 24 SPG cars on duty at Narasimha Rao's residence and 25 at Gujral's residence. In 2003, the SPG annual budget was Rs 75 crore with over 3,000 men. Then, the Lok Sabha passed the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill which limits SPG cover to former prime ministers to one year after leaving office.

Vajpayee has played by the book. Even as the Lok Sabha results indicated that he was on his way out, he stopped using the BMW which is part of the prime minister's cavalcade and switched to a custom-made Ambassador.

It is a long and at times sad journey from a prime minister to an ordinary MP but thanks to the state exchequer and the Indian taxpayer, it is also a very comfortable one.

-with Shyamlal Yadav