Noisy start to identification of EWS quarters beneficiaries

BBMP launches bio-metric ID system

The bio-metric  system to identify genuine beneficiaries of the quarters for the economically weaker sections (EWS), which the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is planning to build, got off to a noisy start on Wednesday.

When the drive began, a group of 50 to 100 people tried to disrupt the camp, leading to skirmishes. The members of the group were not convinced that the drive was meant for allotting quarters to the real beneficiaries. It would only serve the purposes of the real estate companies, they complained. The police arrived at the spot, pacified the protestors and restored normalcy.

The BBMP had entered into an agreement with Maverick Holdings Private Limited for the construction of the quarters, two months ago. Palike officers on Wednesday set up a camp at Ejipura where they verified the original and duplicate copies of ration cards and identification cards of the beneficiaries. The actual bio-metric identification process would commence on Thursday, the officers said.

Notices were issued two days ago to the beneficiaries asking them to be prepared with all original documents pertaining to their claim on the yet-to-be-built quarters. However, there was confusion among the beneficiaries that the Palike wanted original identity cards given to them five years ago by the H D Kumaraswamy government.

To clear their doubts, the beneficiaries met Shanthinagar MLA N A Haris on Tuesday. The MLA asked them not to worry and asked the Palike officers to collect only the duplicate copies of the documents. He is learnt to have told the zonal Palike authorities to start the construction work at the earliest and ensure good quality.

Azam Pasha, president of Ejipura Slumdwellers’ Welfare Association, and Jayanthi of Karnataka Samatha Sainik Dal have supported the BBMP’s drive. Before the old EWS quarters was demolished, there were 1,512 families living there, Pasha said.

But now the Palike has planned to increase the number of quarters to 1,640 to accommodate 128 more families. Each house in the quarters will be built on an area of 312 sq ft.