Kathputli Colony to Pragati Apartments: Delhi housing colony for slum dwellers gets a new name, new identity

According to a RERA submission made by the builder in July, 63% of the work on superstructure of towers in the project was completed. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the commencement of insolvency proceedings against Raheja Developers last month.

“During multiple interactions with residents of the Kathputli Colony (transit camp) and their RWA representatives, a strong sentiment and desire to shed the old identity of the ‘Kathputli Colony’ and adopt a name that reflects progress, transformation, and new beginnings was seen,” an official said, adding that residents were proud to become part of the mainstream urban society.

Similar exercises — including renaming the Kalkaji In-Situ Rehabilitation Project as Asha Kiran Apartments and the Jailorwala Bagh project as Swabhimaan Apartments — were undertaken earlier.

Construction work, officials said, is set to resume at full pace following delays. “Efforts are underway to obtain pending approvals, such as fire NOC compliance, and expedite supply of essential infrastructure materials, to ensure uninterrupted progress,” an official said.

Established between the late 1960s and early 1970s, the colony is inhabited by puppeteers, dancers, musicians, magicians and performers from Rajasthan. They were later joined by folk artists and migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. With the help of the Asian Heritage Foundation, Kathputli artists found work through the Sangeet Natak Academy, a performing arts council established by the central government in Delhi. In the 1980s, the artists in Kathputli gained international recognition through performances at the ‘Festival of India’ in the U.K. in 1982 and in the United States in 1985, according to a report by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

The DDA has been attempting to clear the land on which the colony was situated since 1985, planning the rehabilitation of the artists in Vasant Kunj, Mehrauli and Dwarka, at different points of time, but those plans failed to materialise, the CPR report notes.

The current project is the latest attempt and one of three in-situ slum rehabilitation projects that are being carried out in the national capital. The project was conceived in 2008 and the construction started after a decade, in 2018. It has since been plagued by severe delays, with residents and activists having raised concerns in the past about the conditions of the transit camps and the loss of livelihood opportunities tied to the colony’s unique character.

The progress of the policy of in-situ slum rehabilitation has been extremely slow. Only two projects have been completed where slum-dwellers have been allotted flats. These projects in Kalkaji and Ashok Vihar have a combined capacity of 4,699 units. Of these, 3,301 flats have been allotted to people of Bhoomiheen Camp, Jailer Wala Bagh slum, Golden Park Rampura slum, and a cluster opposite Mata Jai Kaur Public School till July this year.