Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has directed the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) not to deviate from its mandate of providing affordable housing,expressing his displeasure over pricing of upcoming projects "beyond the reach of the common man". "The CHB should keep in mind its mandate of not deviating from providing affordable houses to people in Chandigarh who have been residing here for 3-4 decades,but could not acquire houses on their own," Bansal,who was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Chandigarh constituency,said here. Earlier this month,CHB has floated a scheme for allotting 160 two-bedroom flats in the city under the state government's Self Financing Housing Scheme on a freehold basis. It had fixed Rs 50.65 lakh as the price for a ground floor residence and Rs. 47.39 lakh for a first-floor property. Bansal's concern over the property rates assumes significance,given that the rates for the new flats are over 60 per cent higher than the prices fixed under a two-bedroom housing scheme launched by the CHB in 2008. At that time,the two-bedroom flats were priced at Rs 29.14 lakh. Bansal also criticised the CHB's move to price brochures for the housing scheme at Rs 1,000. In contrast,the Delhi Development Authority had fixed the cost of brochures under its recently launched housing scheme at just Rs 100. However,the CHB - which has been accused of working as a "property dealer" by various quarters,including the BJP has argued that allotment at concessional rates had led to profiteering,with successful allottees selling their flats at higher market rates.
