In a significant direction which will affect thousands (over 7,000) government employees working with the UT Administration,the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that regular employees of the UT Administration on deputation from Punjab and Haryana are eligible under the Self Financing Housing Scheme floated by Chandigarh Administration in 2008. Also,the challenge to the eligibility of the scheme has been rejected by the High Court. The development assumes significance since the High Court,a division bench headed by the then Chief Justice V K Jain had stayed the scheme in so far as it related to deputationists,thus bringing the scheme to a grinding halt. The dismissal of the petitions will throw open the scheme to all those applicants who have been awaiting the decision for long. It might be mentioned here that since the eligibility criteria of the Housing Board Scheme was challenged,the Administration had decided not to go ahead with the scheme till the petitions were decided. The outcome of the petitions was eagerly awaited by all the government employees. The petitioners had alleged that the Scheme was tailor made for officers on deputation. In its response,the Chandigarh Housing Board had made it aptly clear that the Self Financing Housing Scheme for UT employees had not been tailor made. Dispelling the wrong belief completely,the UT Administration had clarified that the scheme was not at all made to favour employees on deputation. The Scheme had categorized the UT employees in four categories viz Group A,B,C and D depending on their income. The High Court had come down heavily on the Chandigarh Administration for not formulating a ratio for availability of dwelling units in proportion with employees in Group C and D categories. The then Chief Justice,Vijender Kumar Jain had sought details of the total number of dwelling units and the number of applications received from officers on deputation and non deputation. The petition challenging the eligiblity criteria of the scheme was dismissed today. The much awaited draw of lots will commence now. Over 7,000 employees had applied in the scheme.
