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UT employees’ housing scheme: Chandigarh admn moves top court against HC order to provide flats at 2008 rates
Offering flats at the collector rate of 2008 will translate into a financial loss of nearly ₹2,000 crore for the Chandigarh administration
The UT administration on Monday approached the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana high court’s May 30 order to provide flats under the 2008 Self-Financing Employee Housing Scheme at brochure rates of the same year.
The Deputy Commissioner office and the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) filed a special leave petition (SLP) against the high court order, which will translate into a financial loss of nearly ₹2,000 crore for the UT administration.
In its order, the court had also directed the UT administration to construct the flats within one year, which it finds impossible to achieve.
The UT employees, who have been awaiting the flats for over a decade, had on July 22 already filed a caveat before the apex court. A caveat is a caution or warning, giving notice to the court to not issue any grant or take a step without notice being given to the party lodging the caveat.
As per the HC judgment, the cost of construction is to be paid by the employees at current rates. However, cost of the entire land meant for implementation of the scheme will remain at the rate of ₹7,920 per square yard, as announced in 2008.
“Giving the land at the collector rate of 2008 is not financially feasible. It will result in a financial loss of nearly ₹2,000 crore. It is also not possible to construct the flats in one year, considering that the tender process itself will take around two to three months. Therefore, we have challenged the HC order before the top court,” said a senior officer of the UT administration, not wishing to be named.
Land cost has shot up from ₹237 crore to ₹2,200 crore since 2008
As per records, in 2019, the Union ministry of home affairs had determined the cost of the 61.5 acres land for the scheme at around ₹2,200 crore, coming to ₹74,131 per square yard. However, according to the collector rate of 2008, the per square yard rate will be ₹7,920, equating to ₹237 crore for the 61.5 acres.
Thus, the revised cost of a three-bedroom flat will be around ₹50 lakh, a two-bedroom flat will cost around ₹40 lakh, a one-bedroom flat around ₹35 lakh and a single-room flat around ₹15 lakh.
Around 4,000 flats were to be built in Sectors 52, 53 and 56 by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for government employees as part of the scheme, launched in 2008.
The project comprised 252 3BHK flats with servant quarters, 168 2BHK flats with servant quarters, 3,066 1BHK flats and 444 single-room flats for Group D employees.
A draw of lots was held in 2010, in which 3,930 employees among 7,911 applicants were selected. They had then deposited around ₹57 crore with the CHB under the scheme. In the past 16 years, as many as 100 employees, who had opted for the scheme, have died.
Reacting to the administration’s move, UT Employees’ Housing Welfare Society general secretary Dharamender Shastri said, “This shows the administration’s indifference towards the employees. We had already moved a caveat before SC and we have full faith in the judiciary.”
