4 years on, houses for poor gather dust in Pinjore

Ishrat S Banwait

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Panchkula, November 28

Four years after the construction was completed, 24 houses in Pinjore, built under a government housing scheme for the poor, are yet to be allotted. The houses have started to crumble as these await occupancy. The project, “Adarsh Pradarshan Awasiya Yojna”, was undertaken by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

 The reason behind the failure to allot the houses is the government’s lackadaisical attitude in appointing a committee to invite and scrutinise applications for the purpose. The policy under which the houses are to be allotted was framed earlier and members of the committee were also nominated. However, with a change of government in 2014, the committee was scrapped and a new committee was to be formed, which has not been set up so far.

The foundation stone, which lies broken and covered with mud now, was inaugurated by the then Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja, on February 28, 2009. The construction was completed on December 8, 2012, and since then the complex has been lying vacant. It includes 24 double-storeyed houses and a community centre.

 The houses, located on the Bitna road in Pinjore, were built at an estimated cost of Rs 47 lakh. The houses are currently lying vacant and their condition is deteriorating. The houses are 411 sq ft each and are earthquake resistant. The project was undertaken on a no profit-no loss basis.

 The president of the Shivalik Vikas Manch, Vijay Bansal, has been writing to the government to complete the formalities for the allotment, but to no avail. A memorandum submitted to the Haryana Chief Minister in February last year had given a ray of hope. The Chief Minister had directed the district administration to take action and complete the project. Action was initiated, but the issue again got stuck as the committee members have not been finalised.

 Deputy Commissioner Garima Mittal said she would be able to comment on the issue only tomorrow after looking at the file concerned. A letter was written on February 16 this year by the then Deputy Commissioner, Mandeep Brar, to the then MC Commissioner, Jagdeep Dhanda, asking him to take action in the matter as per the guidelines and submit a report to his office.

 Dhanda said, “We had submitted a report to the Deputy Commissioner stating that while the policy for allotment was ready, the committee for inviting and scrutinising the applications is yet to be set up.” At present, several officers have changed and no one seems to know much about the project.