After buyers failed to show interest in purchasing economic weaker section (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) houses in far-flung areas, the state government is mulling a proposal to give the responsibility to Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB) to sell these units.
These apartments were constructed by private developers under the township policy and Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana. An official said, “The final decision will be taken in a meeting chaired by the urban development and housing (UDH) minister Shanti Dhariwal next week. Also, from now the new houses under these categories will be constructed by RHB. Directions have been given to RHB to prepare a draft.”
An official explained, the government agency, RHB, has been picked as it had sold thousands of vacant flats in the last few years. Based on the need, the board may develop facilities around such flats, the cost of which can be recovered from the builder concerned. An official said, it is mandatory to build a flat for EWS and LIG in multi-storey building and plotted scheme as per norms.
“The developer has to earmark 10 per cent of the BAR (built-up area ratio) for every multi-storied and plotted project. The government later allowed developers to construct houses for these categories on different land, apart from the main projects. Supposedly, a main project was constructed in C-scheme area, the developer can construct houses for EWS and LIG in far-flung areas. This discouraged people from buying these houses,” he said.
Sources said there is a provision to provide 350 sq. ft. to EWS and 550 sq. ft. for LIG category under the schemes. However, people are avoiding these houses due to their small size. “It has been more than 10 years since it was implemented. The government should have brought the required amendments. Moreover, the officials concerned should have inspected the site, where the developer is constructing EWS and LIG houses and if it is feasible or not,” said the official.
