Maharashtra government to allot 10,000 houses to mill workers: CM Devendra Fadnavis

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government would initiate the process of allotting 10,000 houses to mill workers by December this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said.

He also said that an additional 8,710 houses would also be alloted to the mill workers.

Making a statement in the lower house, Fadnavis said that the mill workers are entitled to get houses of 225 square feet under the scheme for mill worker's housing.

"6,925 houses were built under the scheme and 5,644 have already been transferred to eligible applicants. 6,794 new houses are under construction and the third phase would involve construction of 2,911 houses," he said.

Apart from these houses developed by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) would provide 4,800 houses under the scheme. Thus a total of 10,000 houses would be available for distribution by this year, the Chief Minister said.

MMRDA would provide for additional 8,710 houses which will be available by December 2016, Fadnavis said.

There had been 1,48,067 applications when lottery was drawn for the first phase in 2012. Government would ask MHADA and the MMRDA to build more houses in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to implement the scheme, he said.

When Congress' Prithviraj Chavan questioned the delay in providing the houses till December, Fadnavis said the total provision is for 38,000 tenements on mill land.

"The process of identifying land for mill workers colonies in MMR region is taking time," he added.

Chavan said during his tenure as Chief Minister, first lottery for allotment of tenements was done and over 6,000 homes were given to the beneficiaries.