Faridabad: Year on, only 5.5% of 10,000 Khori oustees rehabilitated

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Faridabad, September 13

Of nearly 10,000 families displaced after the demolition of a Khori village colony in June last year, only about 550 got EWS flats under a rehabilitation scheme for the oustees.

The demolition drive was carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) to reclaim over 150 acres of forest area. Sources said though the rehabilitation process started in July last year, only 5.5 per cent of the affected families had been rehabilitated owing to tough eligibility norms and cumbersome process. BS Dhillon, a senior MCF official, said 1,009 applicants out of 4,100, who were found eligible, were issued allotment letters. “While 550 of them got the possession, the remaining failed to turn up. A notice has been issued to them,” he said.

As per the scheme, the eligible applicants are required to pay a down payment of Rs 10,000 and a monthly instalment of Rs 1,950 for 20 years. The charges for power and water connection are additional.

The sources said while a majority of the oustees were unable to pay the down payment and other charges, many others lack documents. A voter ID issued prior to January 2021 and the proof of an electricity connection are among the papers required.

Gowda Prasad, an affected Khori resident, said, “The government is denying us the relief even as we have lost all our life’s savings.” Terming the rehabilitation scheme a mere eyewash, Nirmal Gorana of the Majdoor Awas Sangharsh Samiti said the oustees should be provided alternative accommodation free of cost as a majority of them had no permanent source of income.