State’s penury, slum-dwellers’ loss — `SRD tax’ on the cards

The fallout of the state’s hollow coffers will, however, hurt slum-dwellers the most the beneficiaries of the scheme as the government plans to sever loans to private developers interested in signing up. With the bearesh trend in the real estate market already discouraging builders from participating, the decision could further bury the already ill-fated scheme.

A final decision on this and othercost-cutting measures will be taken by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Housing Minister Rohidas Patil and Minister of State for Housing, Nawab Malik, meeting to review the SPPL on Friday. Another meeting has been scheduled for November 30, when the entire SRD scheme will be reviewed. This meeting will also be attended by housing and town planning experts.

Originally being the brainchild of the Congress government prior to 1995, the incumbent Congress-led coalition will try and revive the dormant scheme, insiders say. However, given the near-empty treasury, the state government will have to exercise financial disciplince. Therefore on the cards are some more hard decisions, sources in Mantralaya say.

A tax is proposed to be levied on slum-dwellers pre-dating 1995 the cut-off date for eligibility under the SRD to help finance projects, sources reveal. Besides, the government will also charge at least Rs 10,000 per house. A formal announcement is awaited.

The SPPL was set up two years ago to give animpetus to the flagging scheme, which was supposed to build 8 lakh houses for 40 lakh slum-dwellers. However, only 78 houses have been built by the SPPL till date.