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No project in the pipeline, but Chandigarh Housing Board set to hire 38 new recruits
On August 11, the Chandigarh administrator will be handing over appointment letters to 38 junior engineers, sub-divisional engineers, architects and draftsmen
With UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit virtually spiking its Sector 53 general housing scheme, Chandigarh Housing Board’s decision to hire 38 additional engineers, architects and draftsmen has raised eyebrows.
With even the general housing scheme at IT Park stuck in environmental wrangles, currently the board has no major venture in the works. But it is all set to recruit the new hires on August 11 that will bump up its engineers’ strength to 120.
CHB had last successfully rolled out a housing scheme in 2016, when it had offered 200 two-bedroom flats in Sector 51 for ₹69 lakh each. With no successful project over the past seven years, the board is struggling to justify its existence. Meanwhile, it continues to pay ₹2 crore a month to 500 employees.
The workforce comprises approximately 300 regular employees, supplemented by an additional 200 engaged on contractual and outsourced terms.
On August 11, the UT administrator will be handing over appointment letters to the 38 newly recruited junior engineers, sub-divisional engineers, architects and draftsmen at a function to be held on CHB premises in Sector 9.
New hands will replace those retiring: CHB CEO
Justifying the latest recruitment, CHB chief executive officer (CEO) Yashpal Garg said the hiring had taken place after three decades, primarily due to retirement or impending retirement of many officials within the next few years. “We will soon be initiating several projects in the city,” he added.
On the Sector 53 housing scheme, UT adviser-cum-CHB chairman Dharam Pal said, “The UT administrator has agreed to review it. Also, the services of the engineers can always be used in the municipal corporation, UT administration or any other organisation, where there are no engineering wings.”
Surinder Bahga, member of board of directors, CHB, said during the next board meeting, they will propose that CHB’s engineering wing can take up major development works of other UT departments: “They can even be deputed in Chandigarh Smart City Limited, as they are hiring people from outside.”
Reflecting on past experiences, Puranjit Singh, a former chief engineer of CHB, recalled a precedent set in the early 1990s.
During a period of two years marked by limited assignments, the CHB engineers were deployed at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research as well as other organisations lacking engineering divisions. This strategic manoeuvre served to affirm their roles and validate their remuneration, Singh reminisced.
CHB, an undertaking of the Chandigarh administration, was established in 1976, with the primary objective of providing reasonably priced and good quality housing for individuals lacking shelter within the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
As of March 2019, the board had completed the construction of a total of 67,565 houses across various categories, including rehabilitation schemes.
The operations of the board adhere to the regulations outlined in the Chandigarh Housing Board (Allotment, Management & Sale of Tenements) Regulations, 1979. The allocation of land for construction of houses or flats is carried out by the UT administration. In accordance with this allocation, the board initiates housing schemes and extends invitations for applications from the general public.
But it has failed to introduce any housing scheme since 2016. The housing scheme planned at the IT Park is awaiting environment clearances. Under the scheme, CHB plans to construct 728 flats in three categories in seven-storey towers on IT Park plots 1 and 2, which are spread over 16.6 acres, for the general public.
The scheme will have 28 four-bedroom, 448 three-bedroom and 252 two-bedroom flats. The project land is part of 123 acres that CHB got back from Parsvnath Developers after a long-drawn legal battle.
