Ahmedabad Authority grants houses to the EWS

The fruit of patience is always sweet, goes a saying. But is waiting for 10 long years for the 'sweet fruit' really justified? Poor families were to be allotted houses by Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) under the economically weaker section (EWS) scheme, the registrations for which were done in 2001.

This Diwali when the whole city was celebrating with much gusto, 8,000-odd families of the city were having a tough time waiting for house allotments which were promised to them a decade ago. Out of the 17,000 families identified and registered for allotment of houses in 2001, only 9,598 beneficiaries have been allotted houses so far, while the remaining 8,011families have to wait a bit longer. All these families have paid Rs50,000 as the initial installment to AUDA.

Interestingly, 8168 houses are ready and will be allotted at one go, which is the highest single allotment till now.

The AUDA office at Usmanpura still receives a large number of people on a daily basis inquiring about the dates for house allotment. They return in vain when the officials tell them to wait for some more months. A group of disappointed people who visited the AUDA office on Tuesday spoke to DNA and said that they have been inquiring for their houses for many months.

"We expected to acquire the house before Diwali but there is no further development even now. We have already paid the required amount of Rs50,000 as demanded by AUDA but are still awaiting allotment," stated a man who had registered for the EWS scheme.

Why such a delay in allotment of houses for these poor families? An AUDA official spoke to DNA requesting anonymity and said, "The houses have been long ready but the families will only be allotted them through a draw system, which will take place soon.

The official said that a majority of the families had given the Rs50,000 amount - the last date for which is also over. "We are awaiting instructions from top officials as to when the draw should be held," he said.

When enquired further about the reason for the delay, sources at AUDA said that chief minister Narendra Modi is likely to conduct the draw and allot houses and AUDA is waiting for the dates from him.

When DNA tried contacting AUDA chairman Dharmendra Shah to ask about the delay in conducting the draw and allotment of houses, he refused to comment.

It seems like the fate of these 8,000-odd poor families depends on the date on which the chief minister and the higher officers at AUDA are free.