Indian Express 24.12.2009
Govt to DDA: Buy 8,000 houses we built
The Delhi government has requested the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to buy 8,000 units built by it after failing to identify beneficiaries under various housing schemes for the urban poor.
The proposal was floated at a recent meeting with Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy.
The government contended that since most slums in Delhi have come up on land owned by central agencies like the Railways or DDA, it was nearly impossible for it to find potential beneficiaries. “On DDA and railway-owned land, on-site slum redevelopment cannot be undertaken by the state. But we can provide flats that are ready with us for rehabilitation purposes,” Delhi Finance Minister A K Walia said.
Beneficiaries will have to pay Rs 60,000 for a flat, located in areas like Bawana, according to officials. They have been built by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DSIIDC) at an estimated cost of around Rs 3-4 lakh each.
Walia said, “Keeping in mind the Commonwealth Games, slum clusters near the sites can be taken up on priority basis and flats which are ready can be allotted.”
By March 2010, the government will have additional 15,000 flats for the urban poor, he added. Nearly 21 per cent of the city’s total population resides in 6 lakh slums.
The Centre had earlier turned down the Delhi government’s proposal to raise beneficiary contribution, citing high land costs in Delhi, from the current Rs 60,000 to around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh. For the government, it will be a win-win situation if the DDA buys these flats — it will be able to recover its investment without having to bear the burden of providing additional housing subsidy to the urban poor.
Delhi has embarked on an ambitious urban poor housing programme after the Centre approved 65,000 units under its urban infrastructure renewal scheme — Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission — to be built by DSIIDC, DDA and the Slum department.
