Scores of beneficiaries who were allotted single-room tenement flats under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana, a Central government scheme in December last year, after a long wait of 12 years, now face an uphill task to occupy their houses.
Despite the Central and State governments time and again asserting that housing for the poor is their top priority, there are hundreds of flats in several housing schemes for the poor in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts that are vacant for various reasons. In some cases beneficiaries failed to pay the balance amount, unhappy with the condition of the houses and in other cases families were not in a hurry to move due to lack of basic amenities like drinking water, drainage and roads, among others, in these housing colonies.
But in VAMBAY colony with about 500 single room flats at Kowkur in Malkajgiri mandal of Medchal district, allottees are eager to take possession of the houses allotted to them but have to contend with illegal occupants of their houses, who had moved in while the tenements were vacant and refuse to vacate them now.
The VAMBAY flats scheme was floated way back in 2006 when the beneficiaries had paid their share of ₹6,000 each while the Central government gave a subsidy of ₹30,000 and the bank loan component was ₹58,143.
In October, 2014, Ranga Reddy District Collector sent notices to beneficiaries to submit proof of identity, Aadhaar number, ration card, voter identity card and pay the bank loan component to claim their flats. For all those who paid the balance, Ranga Reddy Collector allotted the flats in December 2017 and directed them to contact the designated housing wing officers of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for taking possession of their flats.
It is more than two months since some beneficiaries like G. Padma and her husband have been trying to take possession of their allotted flat in Kowkur, but the present illegal occupants would have none of it. What is baffling to them is the inability of the field-level officers of GHMC to evict unauthorised occupants.
When the issue was brought to the notice of GHMC Chief Engineer (Housing) Suresh Kumar, he said the bonafide allottees could approach him or Superintending Engineering (Housing) and unauthorised occupants would be evicted and flats handed over to owners.
