The much touted Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojana (RRAY) of the Delhi government seems stuck with a little over 7,000-odd houses being constructed and the government still trying to identify the beneficiaries.
The fact that only 7,500-odd houses were constructed so far, out of the proposed 65,000, was mentioned by the urban development ministry in a recent reply to a Parliament query. The reply also mentioned that the state government was trying to identify to whom the constructed flats should be given. The RRAY, which is part of the basic services to urban poor (BSUP) component of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), was envisaged as a housing project for the economically weaker section and the lower income group categories, in which the owners were to pay only a fraction of the total cost and were entitled to a grant of Rs 1 lakh.
Launched in 2007, the government had positioned the scheme as the one which would help the poor get a roof in the city and also reduce the slums. The poor were supposed to get loans at the lowest rates which they could repay at minimal EMI.
However, the project, for which two plots of land at Bawana and Kanjhawala villages of outer Delhi were allotted, ran into legal trouble within a few days of the launch of the scheme. The Delhi high court had then stayed the Kanjhawala part of the project following a petition claiming that the land had already been allotted to the state rural development department.
Despite initial hiccups, however, the forms for the RRAY flats had sold in lakhs.
However, of late, the government had taken the view that people from those slums, which are being removed from areas near Games venues, may be given preference during allotment. Reportedly, a final decision on the matter is yet to be taken.