Delhi: Slum dwellers being rehabilitated to pay Rs 1.4 lakh per flat

Slum dwellers identified to be rehabilitated to housing societies will have to pay Rs 1.42 lakh per flat, according to a plan drawn up by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). In case of families falling under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, a payment of Rs 31,000 per flat will have to be made, DUSIB member Bipin Rai told The Indian Express.

In the first phase, Rai said the government plans to shift up to 9,300 families by May. The government has readied 9,315 flats built under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for this purpose.

“General category beneficiaries will have to pay Rs 1.42 lakh per flat, which includes Rs 30,000 maintenance charges. In case of Scheduled Caste beneficiaries, the price of the flats has been fixed at Rs 31,000, including maintenance charges. We plan to complete the first phase of rehabilitation by May. The process will start in March,” Rai said.

Across Delhi, especially in its outer areas, around 40,000 flats built by various agencies, including DUSIB, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (DSIIDC), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), have been lying unused and in a state of complete disrepair for up to 12 years.

Of the 9,315 flats, the largest chunk, 7,400, is at Bhalswa, where seven clusters will be shifted. Among the rest, 1,060 flats are at Sultanpuri and 855 at Bawana. These are all 1-BHK flats in multi storied apartments. A top DUSIB official said CM Arvind Kejriwal has directed that slum dwellers be shifted to Sultanpuri by April 31, while May 31 is the deadline for the remaining ones.

This will mark the first major round of rehabilitation since the AAP took office in 2015. Among the major poll promises made by the AAP was that of in-situ or on site rehabilitation of slum clusters instead of forcing them to shift to flats built in the city’s peripheral areas, so they don’t lose their sources of livelihood. However, the policy, called Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana, allows for relocation beyond the 5-km radius cap with prior approval of the DUSIB board.

Last September, DUSIB had scrapped a decision to construct 3,780 flats to relocate over 3,000 families residing in slums of Jahangirpuri and Wazirpur near their sources of livelihood.

DUSIB had pointed out “no concrete plan of action for relocation has been drawn” and a large number of flats lie unused inviting “unruly elements, vandalism and wear and tear”. However, the government later announced its plan to construct 89,400 flats in three phases, out of which 41,400 flats are to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 8 lakh each by next year.

The Delhi government did not implement the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the city. In 2019, it had carried out a survey to ascertain the number of slum dwellers. DUSIB estimates that there are around 20 lakh slum dwellers in the city, which has nearly 675 jhuggi clusters, over 300 of which are on land owned by the DDA.