Delhi slum eviction: BJP to raise the issue in Delhi Assembly
The Supreme Court has recently ordered the removal of 48,000 slum-dwellers from railway land within a period of 90 days
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers will raise the issue of providing housing to 48,000 families living in slums on railway land in the national capital during Delhi assembly’s monsoon session on Monday.
The BJP said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has close to 31,000 flats lying vacant and 20,000 in various stages of construction in different parts of the national capital.
The Supreme Court (SC) has recently ordered the removal of 48,000 slum-dwellers from railway land within a period of 90 days.
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BJP legislator Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who is also leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, said, “These flats have been constructed using Central funds. The Delhi government should work out a plan to shift these people in the flats that are lying vacant. We want a discussion on this issue. We want the government to tell us what it plans to do. The government should play a proactive role and assure the slum-dwellers that they will be given accommodation.”
The BJP’s Delhi unit is planning a protest march in the national capital over the issue.
Manoj Tiwari, who represents north-east Delhi in the Lok Sabha, wrote to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, urging 48,000 families living in slums on railway land be shifted to vacant flats available with the Delhi government.
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Tiwari, a former chief of Delhi’s BJP unit, wrote, “It is the responsibility of your government to ensure that the slum-dwellers are relocated systematically and given proper accommodation without any risk to their lives in the present situation because of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.”
The two-time Member of Parliament (MP) said that the Delhi government has 31, 424 flats, which were constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
The MP questioned Kejriwal the reason for the delay in allocating the vacant flats to the slum-dwellers.