Thai artistes perform at the “chaupal” during the 26th Surajkund Crafts Mela 2012 in Faridabad on Thursday. — PTI

With an eye on the upcoming civic polls in the city, the city government has once again played the low-cost housing flats plan card to woo economically weaker section. The government has identified 2,229 industrial labourers to provide flats to at low prices under the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Scheme for Industrial Workers. The government officials said that the Delhi chief minister Ms Sheila Dikshit will hand over the allotment letters of the flats to 20 such labourers in a function on Friday.
“Flats at a very low cost comparing to the market prices will be provided to 115 labourers on Friday. The Delhi CM will hand over the allotment letters to 20 labourers in the Delhi secretariat and rest of them will get the letters in their residential areas,” said a Delhi government official.
The official said that the flats are built in Bawana and Narela industrial areas with market and all such facilities. The government’s infrastructure building agency DSIIDC has completed construction of 2,239 flats.
The agency had held draw of lots to select the beneficiaries out of around 11,000 applicants who had applied for the flats.
However, the Delhi government’s “promise” to provide low-cost flats to the slum dwellers during the last Assembly polls in 2008, is still not fulfilled. The Lokayukta had also pulled up the government over the issue. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit had put an advertisement in the newspapers before the last Assembly polls to provide flats under the Rajeev Ratan Awas Yojana.

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Authorities get rap for illegal constructions
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Feb. 9

The civic authorities have come under attack for failing to control unsafe and unauthorised constructions across the city.
The issue figured prominently at a seminar attended by judges of Delhi high court as well as senior officials of Delhi government and National Disaster Management Authority.
The workshop was organised by Delhi government as part of a two-month-long exercise to sensitise various sections, including executive, legislature and judiciary about disaster management.