Yes Minister,they waited 5 months for flats… because you had to hand the keys

The alibi taken by the officials is that partial allotment had been made and only a few people shifting in would have caused damage to the houses.

Thanks to the UT Administrations wish to hand over the keys to occupants of flats under a rehabilitation scheme from a Minister,the occupants were initially given possession of houses in July and dispossessed. The houses were handed over at a function held today. The alibi taken by the officials is that partial allotment had been made and only a few people shifting in would have caused damage to the houses.

However,with the houses remaining empty for all these months,many fittings got stolen. The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) had handed over keys to 36 beneficiaries of one-room flats at Ramdarbar under the rehabilitation scheme in July this year. Within a few hours,the keys were taken back.

The CHB has to construct more than 25,000 one-room flats under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) with the aim of creating a slum-free city. Union Minister Kumari Selja handed over the keys of 20 flats. The possession of 576 flats in Ramdarbar and 1,024 in Sector 49 will be given over the next three days.

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The construction of flats at Ram Darbar was completed in July but allotments were not made.

Between July and now,the houses suffered damage because of not being occupied. The cast iron pipes installed in them were stolen and the housing board had to install new ones. Complaints about theft had been given by the CHB to the police. With the flats remaining empty,rent amounting to lakhs that the cash starved CHB could have earned was also lost.

While the proposed beneficiaries continued to reside in filthy conditions in slums,the flats constructed for them remained empty.

Chandigarh Housing Board Chairman Mohanjit Singh said that partial allotment of the houses had been made. It was being proposed that the beneficiaries be given possession of the houses in parts. However,I felt that if some people shift in and the others do not,they might cause damage to the flats. So we decided that everyone would be given the keys to the flats together.

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CHB has already started the construction of around 12,864 small flats under the scheme. These include areas like Sector 38(W),Sector 49,Ramdarbar,Dhanas,Mauli Jagran and Dhanas.

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