The lottery for 4,186 houses of the MHADA Pune board has been stalled for several months. It was expected that this lottery would proceed after the municipal election code of conduct ended. However, there is now a possibility that the lottery will be postponed again. A press conference of the State Election Commission is scheduled for 4 PM on Tuesday.
The elections for 12 Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis have been announced at this press conference. Following this, the code of conduct will be implemented and will remain in effect for a month. Consequently, after the municipal elections, the lottery will now be caught up in the Zilla Parishad election code of conduct. As a result, the concerns of 2.15 lakh applicants will increase.
The Pune board has made a total of 4,186 houses available for sale under the 20% inclusive scheme and the 15% integrated scheme. To sell and distribute these houses through a lottery system, the Pune board started registration and application sales/acceptance in September. However, due to technical difficulties during this process, the board had to extend the deadline for application sales/acceptance twice.
Consequently, the lottery was postponed twice. This process was completed, and the lottery received a good response. More than 2.15 lakh applications were submitted along with the deposit amount. The Pune board was prepared to conduct the lottery after scrutinizing these applications and before the municipal election code of conduct came into effect.
However, due to technical difficulties in the computer system, the scrutiny of applications was delayed. On December 15, the municipal election code of conduct was implemented, and the lottery got stuck in the code of conduct. The code of conduct will remain in effect until January 16, which has increased the anxiety of more than two lakh applicants.
Many applicants have paid the deposit amount by taking loans, borrowing money, or using credit cards or other means. With this money being tied up and their dream of owning a house being postponed, the Pune board is facing significant criticism from the applicants. With the lottery, which was supposed to be held in November, being postponed until the end of January, applicants expressed their displeasure and demanded that the lottery be conducted without further delay.
Following criticism of the board, Pune Board Chairman Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil met with officials of the State Election Commission and requested permission to conduct the lottery. However, the commission rejected this request. The commission denied permission, citing that the lottery constitutes a personal benefit and would influence voters. As a result, the hopes of over two lakh applicants, who were expecting the lottery to be held after the municipal election code of conduct ended, have been dashed once again.
The Election Commission held a press conference at 4 PM on Tuesday, during which the Zilla Parishad elections were announced, and the code of conduct will come into effect. The Pune Board's lottery involves applicants from across the state, and since the lottery is conducted by the Pune Board and elections are also being held for the Pune Zilla Parishad, the Pune Board will not be able to conduct the lottery during this period of the code of conduct.
When asked about this, Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil told Loksatta that if the code of conduct is implemented today, the lottery will definitely be postponed for another one to one and a half months. He also stated that the board has no control over the situation. The lottery is now likely to be held at the end of February, after the Zilla Parishad code of conduct ends.
