AAP seeks probe into ‘illegal sale’ of DDA’s flats in Kalkaji, BJP hits back

New Delhi: Urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged on Saturday that the Delhi Development Authority housing units meant for slum dwellers in south Delhi's Kalkaji were being sold illegally to ineligible individuals. Referring to a sting operation by a private news channel, Bharadwaj claimed that such a big scam was happening right under the nose of the lieutenant governor and it wasn't possible that VK Saxena was not aware of it.
While DDA called the allegations levelled by Bharadwaj and the TV channel "patently false, without any basis and bereft of facts", Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva accused the minister of spreading misinformation against central agencies.
Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj alleged that selling the flats to ineligible individuals undermined the very purpose of the initiative. "Over the past two years, central govt agencies demolished jhuggis and rendered lakhs of people homeless. They are forced to live under flyovers, pedestrian overbridges and along the banks of drains. These displaced people are supposed to receive these flats," the minister added.
Calling for an independent investigation into the matter, Bharadwaj said only a sitting Supreme Court or high court judge could ensure transparent inquiry.
"If the Anti-Corruption Branch or CBI investigate, the scam will likely be covered up since these agencies work under LG and central govt," he claimed.
DDA claimed that not a single dwelling unit in the Kalkaji slum rehabilitation project had been allotted to an ineligible beneficiary. It claimed to have "foolproof technology-enabled systems" in place to avoid fraudulent allotment. "Not a single person recorded in the supposed ‘sting' operation by the news channel is even remotely associated with DDA, leave apart being its employee, as is being claimed," DDA said in a statement. "A police complaint has already been filed against the individuals shown as black marketers in the supposed sting operation."
DDA alleged that a preliminary inquiry revealed that the black marketers were associated with a political party and were working with the sole purpose of defaming the authority and its hugely popular and successful slum rehabilitation scheme.
BJP's Sachdeva also questioned Bharadwaj, asking why the Kejriwal govt left 40,000 flats, built under the Rajiv Awas Yojana in Narela and Bawana during Sheila Dikshit's tenure, to go to seed without allocating them to beneficiaries. He accused the AAP govt of failing to implement the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Delhi, leaving many poor families without a roof over their heads.