The MHADA headquarters at Bandra West, usually deserted on Sundays, was jam-packed with several elderly people on March 1 for the mill workers' lottery draw. These creased faces, who once worked in mills, assembled at MHADA to check whether they are one of the lucky winners of the 3,894 houses opened for the lottery draw after four years. Earlier, lotteries were held in 2013 and 2016.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held the lottery draw of houses, located in --Shrinivas Mill (544 houses), Bombay Dyeing Mill (720 houses) and Bombay Dyeing Spring Mill (2,630 houses) for mill workers. He also appealed to mill workers to not sell their rightful flats and leave Mumbai. "I have come to interact with you as an elder member of the family. I am indebted to the mill workers for their support. After you get the possession of your flats, live there happily and do invite me for a cup of tea," Thackeray said. He also pointed out the contribution of mill workers in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.
A lucky winner named Anita Anant Malvankar, who was accompanied by her son Atul for the Sunday's lottery draw, was one of the happy faces. Tears rolled from her eyes on to her cheeks, conveying the several years of struggle she went through to get an affordable house through the mill workers' housing quota. Speaking to the Free Press Journal, she said, "I wish my husband was alive today. He would have been happy to know that our name is one among the lucky winners. Nevertheless, I will move with my son's family to the new house. Currently, we are living in a 10x10 chawl room at Vakola."
Similarly, Prakash Subrao Sawant, 32, was happy to see that his father's name appeared as a lucky winner for a house in Bombay Dyeing Spring Mill. He said, "I made the first call to my father (Subrao Sawant), who is now residing in Sangali. He was so happy with this news." Prakash, who currently lives in Thane in a rented apartment by paying Rs 12,000 per month, desires to shift in the new house very soon. "I work in a pharmacy company. Since the real estate price has gone up, I cannot afford to buy a house in Mumbai. Moreover, buying house beyond Thane means travelling in crowded local trains, which I am not used to," he said.
While a few people were happy that they could finally buy an affordable house, several others were disappointed that despite having a big list of applicants, the government could only offer a handful of houses. Nigapa Maruti Patil, 84, who worked in Bombay Dyeing textile mill, had to leave his job in 1994 when the closure of textile mills in Mumbai was at a peak.
Patil, who donned a Gandhi cap, with a heavy heart, said, "I enrolled for mill workers housing in 2011. Since then, I am doing rounds of MHADA for a house. Currently, I am living in Kolhapur and travelled to Mumbai especially for this lottery draw. However, I was not among the lucky winners." Patil added that he is engaged in farming in his village and earns meagre money through it. Therefore, travelling every time to Mumbai puts a hole in his pocket.
Several people complained that the process of the lottery draw was wrapped up haphazardly. Moreover, MHADA pasting the final list of lottery winners in English on the board as a known practice added to their woes, as many were unable to read the results.
Meanwhile, the mill workers' lottery houses comprising of 225 square feet area will be sold at Rs 9.50 lakh. While the second lottery will be held in April said the CM. He also assured that there are other 1,74,036 applications submitted by mill workers and their descendants for which the government will plan out housing schemes to accommodate all.
