The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed that the allotments of flats to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes be made with a precondition that they will not be able to sell them for 15 years.

A proposal it made to the Urban Development Ministry requests permission for allotment to SC/ST categories only on leasehold, thus putting a check on the resale.

The proposal was submitted immediately after the draw of the 2008 Housing Scheme held on December 16, 2008. The allotments had been delayed by a year, owing to irregularities detected later. The case is still under investigation and the idea was to avoid a similar situation in the future.

“Essentially, the DDA's suggestion is to insert a clause in the allotment procedure so an SC/ST candidate will not be permitted to sell the house for the next 15 years,” said an official.

Since flats are allotted by the DDA on a freehold basis, successful allottees are free to sell their flats as and when they choose. “This leads to speculative applications by people who sell the flat immediately after allotment for a profit,” an official said.

In case of SC/STs, the DDA maintains, this happens on a regular basis as they have a priority quota and stand a better chance of getting an allotment.

“This is what happened in the applications that came in last December,” the official said. Investigations into that draw revealed that a cartel of property dealers coaxed people from the SC/ST category — many of them residents of Rajasthan — to apply for the draw. The modus operandi, the official explained, was that the candidates merely signed the application. The property dealers made the payment for the flat on their behalf, and if they were successful in the draw, sold the flats for a profit.

... contd.