The authorities at the Haryana Housing Board have postponed the draw of lots of BPL housing after a gaffe left them red-faced. Officials of the board which went ahead with the draw on Monday despite glaring discrepancies as well as the applicants were shocked when names and registration numbers on the drawn slips did not match. The phase-wise exercise started on Monday for about 1,360 houses in Gurgaon and Dharuhera. But when one after the other six wrong slips came out,the officials had to call off the draw to calm the flaring tempers of applicants,who had come to the Panchkula office of the board from across the state. Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary,Housing,SK Gulati,who has recently joined office,said he had ordered an inquiry. Sources said he had also suspended the chief revenue officer in this connection. However,asserting that the goof-up was a technical glitch,Gulati told The Indian Express that one list which was also uploaded on the website was sorted alphabetically,and the other was not. He said there was some mix-up of both the lists,but now he had ordered that the entire database be sorted and discrepancies removed. He said the draw would now be held after a week or ten days. Rebutting the allegations of some applicants that the goof-up smacked of corruption,he said it was just a human error,which would be rectified. It seems the boards over Rs 230-crore scheme for BPL housing needs a course correction. On February 9,The Indian Express had highlighted various flaws in it. As per rules,allotment should be done in the presence of a committee comprising a deputy commissioner or his representative who should be at least an HCS officer senior town planner of the circle and a representative each of the director,town and country planning,and the developer. When asked why the board went ahead with the draw without forming the committees,Gulati said he could not comment on this as he had recently joined,but would look into the matter. He added that committees would be formed it rules said so. The board got administrative approval for the scheme with a condition that it would follow the criteria prescribed by the HUDA,that is the rules laid down by the town and country planning department. As per rules,first preference should be given to the BPL families listed in the town where the project is coming up,followed by the district. However,the housing board has omitted this condition from its list of eligibility criteria. Besides,the houses,priced at Rs 3.6 lakh,seemed beyond the reach of the poorest of the poor,as the monthly installment comes to be about Rs 1,500.
