Delhi HC expresses concern over newly built houses for EWS lying vacant

NEW DELHI : Court has expressed concern over a large number of newly constructed houses, built for
economically weaker sections of the society, lying vacant due to lack of amenities or in a state of
partial completion owing to lack of coordination between the authorities.
The high court took suo moto cognisance of the situation and said it was of the opinion that the
process of completion of these houses ought to proceed expeditiously so that the slum dwellers
in the city can be duly rehabilitated and can be offered these flats as per the policy framed.
“Considering the large number of houses, which were to be constructed under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) Scheme for which substantial funds have
already been expended, this court is of the opinion that the process of completion of these
houses ought to proceed expeditiously so that the slum dwellers in the city of Delhi can be duly
rehabilitated and can be offered these houses as per the policy framed,” Justice Prathiba M
Singh said.
The court said, “there can be no doubt that a large section of residents in Delhi belonging to the
economically weaker sections of society require affordable housing. It is disconcerting that a
large quantum of flats/houses is lying vacant due to lack of amenities or in a state of partial
completion apparently due to lack of coordination between the authorities.”
It said let this suo moto public interest Litigation be placed before the Acting Chief Justice for
marking to the appropriate division bench along with the June 1 joint status report filed by the
Secretary of Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Chief Secretary of Delhi
government.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on July 6.
The court, which has been hearing various matters relating to the Kalkaji Mandir from time to
time in which some jhuggi dwellers and other unauthorised occupants were found to be
unauthorised occupying land in the temple premises, said it has passed orders for their
rehabilitation and was exploring alternate accommodation for those occupants in terms of the
policy of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), South Delhi Municipal
Corporation (SDMC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
In March, the court was informed that over 52,000 flats, approved for construction under the
JNNURM Scheme of the Central Government, which was to be implemented by the State
Government, have not yet been allotted due to the delay in execution of the agreement between
the Central and the State Government.
It had thereafter, directed the authorities to file a joint status report after interacting with each
other.
It was informed that under the scheme, a total of 52,344 houses were approved and 35,744 of
them have been constructed while 4,833 have been allotted. 16,600 were under construction
and 2,086 will be ready within three months for shifting.
The court said a perusal of the status report would show that a large number of houses have
either been constructed or partially constructed but are yet to be allotted for the rehabilitation of 6/8/22, 4:33 PM pradhan mantri awas yojana: Delhi HC expresses concern over newly built houses for EWS lying vacant,

“The reasons for non-allotment of the said flats or the flats not being ready for occupation is
claimed to be the lack of provision of basic amenities such as sewage treatment, water supply,
electricity connection, etc. in the said flats. There seems to be a lack of coordination between
the various governmental agencies in terms of payment of money for the construction of the
said flats to DUSIB,” it said.
The court was informed by Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia that out of
the total amount which was to be released by the Central Government, that is, Rs 1,108.85
crore, a sum of Rs 1074.12 crore has already been released to the Delhi government, under the
JNNURM scheme.
Advocate Anuj Chaturvedi, representing the DUSIB, submitted that the houses which were
under the control of DUSIB, have now been placed under the Affordable Rental Housing
Complexes (ARHC) Scheme launched by the Central Government as a sub-scheme under
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), and the allotment of the vacant houses are
currently not permitted.