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New Delhi : To address the acute housing shortage for the employees of Rajya Sabha (RS) Secretariat, 40 dwelling units will be constructed in the prime Sector 12, R K Puram, in the national capital.
Chairman of Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu on August 10, 2020, laid the Foundation for the Rs 46 crore housing complex by remotely unveiling the plaque from Uprashtrapati Niwas. Union Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was present on the occasion.
Speaking after the unveiling, Naidu expressed concern over the inordinate delay in putting the prime land to use that was allotted for the Secretariat as early as in 2003, even as the Secretariat employees were reeling under acute housing shortage. He said that the long period of 17 years taken for launching the housing project resulted in avoidable costs for the Secretariat. Naidu referred to the social-economic-legal-administrative cobwebs that resulted in non-utilisation of precious land resource, according to a PIB release.
Naidu referred to several rounds of meetings he held over the last two years with the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Puri, Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) Durga Shankar Mishra, senior officials of the Delhi Government, DDA, DUSIB, Land and Development Officer, and others concerned to remove the hurdles in the way of utilisation of the land parcel. Naidu also spoke to the Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal in this regard.
Naidu further said that if the 8,700 Sq. Mtrs of precious land allotted for the Rajya Sabha Secretariat in 2003 by the Directorate of Estates against payment was put to use for the intended purpose in time, the Secretariat could have benefitted significantly in the form of House Rent Allowance besides recovering substantial portion of the investment in the housing project by now.
Presenting the consequences of delay in utilising the land in perspective, Naidu stated that the housing demand of the employees of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is being met only to the extent of 38% as against the housing demand satisfaction of 67% in case of the Central Government Employees in Delhi. Informing that the housing shortage in respect of Type-III and Type-IV quarters for the employees of the Secretariat is of the order of 72%, Naidu said that 32 Type-III and 28 Type-IV quarters will be built in the first phase of the housing complex at R K Puram over an area of 4024 Sq. Mtrs. For the 1,400 officers and staff of the Secretariat, only 536 housing units are available at present.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured the Chairman that though the NBCC has indicated a three year period for the completion of the housing complex, given the housing shortage, all efforts will be made to complete the project well ahead of the time. He informed that the Housing For All Mission in urban areas launched in 2016 has been progressing well with 1.07 crore houses already sanctioned and the target of 1.12 crore houses to be met very soon, much ahead of the target of 2022.
Puri noted that the interest and commitment shown by the Rajya Sabha Chairman over the last two years succeeded in resolving a number of issues in utilising the land which seemed at one stage difficult to surmount.