Sahib Singh’s housing party ruined

NEW DELHI: With invitations ready, advertisements approved and the Prime Minister’s initial acceptance in place, labour minister Sahib Singh was all set to launch his dream ‘‘Shramik Awas Yojna’’ housing scheme on Vajpayee’s birthday on Wednesday.
But the Central Board of Trustees’ (CBT) — the highest policy making body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation — played spoilsport and rejected Singh’s proposal after a marathon four-hour meeting on Monday, calling it ‘‘an attempt to benefit contractors not workers.’’
Though the minister’s office maintains that Singh will still be presiding over a small function on Wednesday to hand over keys to flat owners, they are not revealing two things: Why the proposal was shot down by the CBT and how many came forward to avail of 10,000 vacant DDA flats in Delhi?
The answer comes from MK Pandhe, president, Centre for Indian Trade Unions, and a member of the CBT: ‘‘We have not rejected the idea per se, but we are against the manner in which Singh was rushing forward.First, he forced the housing scheme to be included in the agenda of Monday’s meeting. Second, CBT members were told that contractors of these 10,000 substandard flats did not get their payment from the DDA.
‘‘Most of them are Singh’s supporters. To help them, Singh came up with this novel idea. But CBT members wanted rules to be framed and the policy looked into greater detail. CBT members also wondered why Delhiites are not coming forward for these houses if they are in good condition.’’
Finally, the CBT decided that it would consult all the constituents — employers and unions — before taking a final decision.
Though the minister was unavailable for comment, his office denied these charges. ‘‘We are hopeful of getting CBT clearance. It is not true that contractors would gain,’’ says one official.
Interestingly, only 15 applications came for the 10,000 flats in Narela, Jasola, Bindapur and Dwarka. It is not known what the fate of these allottees will be.