As many as 30 ministers in the 55-member Council of Ministers, who sped through the corridors of Mantralaya, discovered that the cabins like their residential accommodation, continued to remain out of reach.

``It is a problem, but it's been caused only since the ministry is rather large,'' shrugged a Cabinet minister, who retreated to conduct official business from his sparsely furnished room in the MLAs' hostel. ``It's a pity that while saheb got his official car and security soon after being sworn in, he has to run around looking for a cabin,'' remarked an aide.

Many ministers camped outside the offices of the only two ministers with the prized allotment, Chief Minister Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on the sixth floor ofMantralaya.

While Congress ministers camped outside Deshmukh's cabin, Nationalist Congress Party ministers and those of the allies hovered around Bhujbal's chamber. They said they had decided to camp there till they are allotted official cabins.

According to an official of the General Administration Department, cabins as well as residential accommodation for ministers were decided at a meeting convened by the chief minister this morning. However, till late evening all the official ministerial cabins remained locked with no name plates as yet.

A solution to the imbroglio seems styled along the lines of the BJP-Sena portfolio distribution. The new ministers will occupy cabins of their predecessors in the Sena-BJP government.

According to a Mantralaya official, there are 40 cabins for ministers while there are 55 ministers including the chief minister and deputy chief minister. These cabins consist of the main chamber and ante room while some of the larger ones have committee rooms as well. The erstwhileministry comprised 48 ministers. While 45 of them were alloted cabins, three ministers operated from the nearby Manora guest house. A solution could mean that some bureaucrats will have to be displaced. An official claimed that ministers would be allotted cabins meant for the secretaries of the respective departments. However these were sans ante-chambers, the official added.