Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri on Friday said the allotment of government accommodation was being rationalised and that the government had moved away from an approach of patronage.
Mr. Puri was speaking at the launch of a portal for booking and applying for government homes and offices, e-Sampada. In response to a question, Mr. Puri said, “We have moved slowly from an overall approach in government of extending patronage, giving to people. There was never a scheme.”
In October, eminent artists who had been allotted government houses in Delhi over the years were asked by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to vacate by December 31, as reported by The Hindu in November.
Referring to the development, Mr. Puri said some categories of people had been occupying the houses for very long. “One such category is hitting the news recently, where you look at it, the original allotment was made 30 years ago, 40 years ago. Also there was a stipulation that their earnings would be below a certain threshold.”
Under the quota for artists, the Ministry had allotted houses from the 1970s onward, with the eligibility criteria being that they earn less than ₹20,000 a month and don’t own a house of their own in Delhi. Among those artists issued eviction notices were Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj and painter Jatin Das. This week, some artists moved the Delhi High Court and were granted a stay against the notice until the next hearing in January 2021.
