Tainted BJP MLA (Yelahanka) SR Vishwanath, who is under the Lok Ayukta’s radar for amassing disproportionate wealth, has also been accused of getting 48 houses meant for slum dwellers sanctioned for his supporters.
Tainted BJP MLA (Yelahanka) SR Vishwanath, who is under the Lok Ayukta’s radar for amassing disproportionate wealth, has also been accused of getting 48 houses meant for slum dwellers sanctioned for his supporters.
Vishwanath allegedly even took help from the then chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to get his recommendation accepted. And after the State Slum Clearance Board (SSCB) initially rejected Vishwanath’s list of recommended beneficiaries on the ground of it being bogus, he managed to get the names cleared.
On November 4, 2010, the SSCB commissioner had written to the secretary of the state housing department, saying that the board's investigations had found that the 48 people recommended by Vishwanath were neither slum dwellers nor homeless. The report said it had been found that the applicants were living in rented houses in various areas in and around Yelahanka. DNA has a copy of the report.
The SSCB report further said that the board could not sanction houses to the 48 people since it would be a clear violation of the rules based on which Vishwanath’s recommendation was earlier rejected. Despite the snub, the MLA got a recommendation from the chief minister, seeking permission to have a board meeting to discuss the issue.
Sources in the board said that the 48 houses were part of a central government scheme, under the banner of Basic Service to the Urban Poor, funded under the Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Under the scheme, SSCBs, in coordination with city corporations, were supposed to identify slums within their jurisdictions and rehabilitate slum dwellers by constructing pucca houses with all amenities.
Vishwanath refuted the allegation, saying the people he had helped were genuinely deserving and homeless. Asked about the commisioner’s report in this regard, the MLA said the board had had a small technical glitch and after the board meeting it was decided that the urban poor, even those who were not slum dwellers, should also be included in the scheme. The houses, he said, were distributed as per the guidelines.
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