High Court asks govt to expedite flat allotment to 20,000 slum dwellers

The 27-year-long wait of slum dwellers to own a house in the national capital may soon end with the Delhi High Court asking the city government and its agencies to devise a time-bound plan to allot flats to 20,000 beneficiaries of a scheme launched way back in 1985.

“The chief secretary, government of NCT of Delhi shall convene a meeting to be attended by the principal secretary, department of urban development as also the secretary, land and building department of the government of NCT and the CEO, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the implementing agency, to discuss the manner and the timeline in which the wait-listed registrants can be allotted residential flats. The said meeting shall be convened within a period of two weeks,” Justice Him Kohl said, hoping that the slum dwellers will get homes in their “life time”.

Issuing a slew of directions, the court lamented the “lack of communication” among government agencies as it led to delay in allotment of flats. “It appears that there is some lack of communication and coordination among the three government agencies, which has not been ironed out despite pendency of the present petitions. As a result, though the petitioners are wait-listed registrants for the past innumerable years, they have been kept waiting for allotment of flats under the scheme floated by DDA in 1985,” it said.

Petitioners’ say

The order came on a batch of petitions filed by five persons, who had registered with the Residential Flats Registration Scheme for Slum Dwellers and Others 1985, seeking directions to agencies to allot them flats. The petitions said the flat aspirants were residing in slums here since 1985.

The DDA had launched the scheme in 1985 to improve the quality of life of poor citizens, living in notified slums here by allotting them flats on easier terms. Each of petitioners had deposited the registration amount under the scheme. 

“They have been patiently waiting for the past 27 years in the hope of being allotted flats under the said scheme, but till date only 5,662 registrants have been allotted flats under the scheme, leaving 20,000 in the wait-list,” a counsel for one of the slum dwellers said.

The court asked the government and its agencies to make available plots and funds to DUSIB for construction of remaining flats.

“The Delhi Government shall process the request received from DUSIB for allocation of funds for the purpose of construction of flats under the aforesaid scheme, so that the petitioners and all other similarly placed wait-listed registrants can be allotted flats under the aforesaid scheme, hopefully in their lifetimes,” it said.