Of the nearly 11,500 application forms sold for the housing scheme for the economically weaker section (EWS) floated by Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), only around 50 per cent applicants have applied. The Board will now scrutinise the application forms after which a draw will be held.  

The applicants claimed that the family income norm under the scheme prevented many from applying who bought the form but did not fall into the EWS category. Of the nearly 5,600 applicants for 160 one-room flats in Sector 26, majority are self-employed.

“The norm of annual family income of Rs 1.14 lakh deterred many prospective applicants. They had earlier felt that only the individual income would be counted, but they retracted when informed that even the spouse’s income and income from any other source is to be calculated for the total family income,” said an employee of Axis Bank, which is undertaking the sale and deposit of the application forms.

According to sources, the CHB has earned nearly Rs 4 crore from the scheme so far. This includes the sale of application forms (Rs 50 each) and a deposit of Rs 25,000 as booking amount. The cost of these flats is in the range of Rs 5-6 lakh. The CHB is providing 160 flats with each having an area of 425 sq feet including a room, kitchen, bathroom and verandah.

The CHB claims the response has been overwhelming considering there were only 160 units for sale. “We received too many applications which would take around a month for the scrutiny. After scrutiny, preliminary draw would be conducted followed by a final draw. This method of double draws would ensure thorough scrutiny of the applications and avoid the allotment to any undeserving applicant,” said CHB Chairman Mohanjeet Singh.

... contd.