NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said the Delhi government should hand over the unallotted 35,000 houses built under the Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojan in 2007-10 to the Centre, and expressed concern over their dilapidated condition. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, he noted that these houses should be made available to the central government for a new scheme - Affordable Rental Housing Complexes.
The Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojana (RRAY) is a centrally-sponsored scheme, implemented between 2007 and 2010, by the then Delhi government as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Rehabilitation Mission.
Replying during the Question Hour in the Upper House, the minister said most of the flats are lying vacant and also a building block with 32 houses meant for economically weaker sections had collapsed on February 11.
Asked about the reasons for the building collapse, the Delhi government had in writing stated that there was large-scale theft and pilferage, including of steel, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, this was a case of theft by miscreants which resulted in the damage, he said. The Delhi government had informed that a third party quality audit was undertaken during construction, he said.