The lottery for 4,186 houses by MHADA's Pune division has been delayed, first due to technical reasons and now due to the election code of conduct. Applicants are extremely unhappy with the delay, and the Pune division is facing criticism.
Therefore, Pune division chairman Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil recently met with State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and requested permission to conduct the lottery. Officials responded positively to this request and assured that they would discuss the matter with the Chief Secretary and announce a decision regarding permission for the lottery in the next two to three days.
The Pune division had started the registration and application process for 4,186 houses available under the 20% inclusive housing scheme and the 15% integrated housing scheme since September. However, due to technical difficulties and to increase participation, the pre-lottery process was extended twice.
This resulted in the lottery being postponed twice. Just when it seemed the lottery would be held after the completion of the pre-lottery process, technical difficulties, specifically delays in application scrutiny, caused a third postponement, and the lottery has remained stalled ever since.
Subsequently, the municipal election code of conduct came into effect, and the lottery became stuck due to the code of conduct. The fact that the lottery date has been postponed three times and is now indefinitely delayed has caused immense dissatisfaction among the applicants.
Many had taken loans or used credit cards to pay the deposit amount. Since the deposit money has been stuck with MHADA since September, applicants are facing financial difficulties. Therefore, there is a demand to conduct the lottery as soon as possible.
If conducting the lottery is not possible, there are also demands for interest on the deposit amount being made through social media. Against this backdrop, Pune division chairman Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil finally met with Dinesh Waghmare two days ago.
During the meeting, he requested permission to conduct the lottery during the period of the code of conduct. He stated that this is a regular MHADA process, and all the lottery procedures were completed before the code of conduct came into effect. Now, only the results need to be announced. Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil informed 'Loksatta' that a request has been made to grant permission for the lottery draw.
He further stated that the Election Commission has given a positive response. There is no obstacle to announcing the lottery results. However, the Election Commission will discuss the matter with the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary of the Housing Department. Only after that will the final decision regarding the lottery be announced, according to what Dinesh Waghmare said.
Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil added that the Election Commission has indicated that the lottery results can be announced. He expressed confidence that the Election Commission will give its final decision in two to three days, and the lottery will be conducted within a week. Therefore, the applicants and the Pune board are now awaiting the Election Commission's decision.
Two lakh 13 thousand 985 applicants will participate in the lottery; 1,980 applications were disqualified.
A total of two lakh 15 thousand 965 applications, along with the deposit amount, were submitted for 4186 houses under the Pune board. After publishing the draft list of applications and considering the objections from ineligible applicants, the Pune board published the final list of eligible applications on Friday evening at 6 PM.
According to this list, two lakh 13 thousand 985 applications have been deemed eligible, while 1,980 applications have been disqualified. The applications were disqualified due to discrepancies in income tax returns, caste certificates, or other documents, and other reasons. Therefore, two lakh 13 thousand 985 applicants will now be competing for 4186 houses.
