Desperate dealers in Noida Extn hire villagers as salesmen

From their car,an elderly lawyer and his wife inquire about the fate of the housing project. Yadav tries to allay their fears. He tells them that he is from the same village and knows best what its residents want. “We have been given 100 per cent compensation… It is unlikely that there will be a stay on the Haibatpur projects. And if a stay does come,all that villagers will possibly ask for is a slight increase in compensation.”

But the lawyer is not convinced. He is carrying a list of names of villagers who have gone to court. He asks Yadav if he or his family is on the list. Yadav doesn’t look at the list — he can’t read English. His cousin Pintu Yadav walks up to the lawyer: “Sir,work has already begun. The soil has been mixed with concrete and is no longer fertile. It is of no use to us. We’d rather wish you own a dream home. Or,you can wait till the judgment.”

Pintu and Sanjay Yadav are among those from Haibatpur that real estate brokers have roped in as “frontline salesmen”. K K Singh,an associate of Sang Real Estate Solutions,says: “They help boost client confidence. Nobody can convince them better than the villagers themselves.”

Today,the cousins are paid Rs 6,000 per booking they process,along with a monthly salary of Rs 6,500. Pintu has earned Rs 60,650 in the last three months. Bharat Yadav,all of 21,has earned Rs 84,500 in the same period.

Land issue a quicksand for buyers

The Noida Extension land imbroglio has opened a pandora’s box and even though many feel it has turned into a quicksand for investors,the only reason that keeps many of them from withdrawing the money is the threat of losing a share of their savings to the builders.

To calm nerves of investors a press conference was held on Thursday,in which members of the Western Uttar Pradesh Chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) claimed that all affected investors will either be transferred to new projects or their money will be refunded “with appropriate interest”.

A harried investor who has booked an apartment in the unaffected part of Supertech’s Ecovillage II,however,has lost faith on the developers and wants her money back. “I contacted Supertech and they said that they will not refund the full investment. The refund will be as per the contract,which means there will be a deduction of 15 per cent,” she said.

Mohit Arora,Director of Supertech,said his firm will not fully refund unaffected investors. “We are fully committed to deliver apartments in the unaffected areas on time. We are holding up our part; so those who want to leave will be given a refund only as per contract,” he said.

Deepu Sebastian Edmond