Bureaucrats in dock for aiding builders

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought a written explanation from two Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) bureaucrats over floating bids for construction of affordable homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) without having land in the Mhada’s name, sources said. The explanation was also sought over alleged conditions in the bids favouring one particular contractor, sources further said.

Sources further said, S.S. Zende, vice-president and Vijay Lahane, chief executive officer (CEO), Konkan Board, have also given their explanation to the chief ministers’ office (CMO) on the same. However, when contacted, Mr Zende, said, “It will be wrong to say that there was any explanation sought. We were asked for information regarding the same and we had given the same to the government very next day.

At Mhada we are very fair, and want maximum participation by contractors for having competitive bidding in case of PMAY.” The state housing department had last month put a stay on the PMAY bids citing Mhada should not go ahead with bidding process without having land in its name.

Mhada, which is the nodal agency for implementing PMAY in the state, had floated bids on October 24 to construct 33,513 homes priced at Rs 10 lakh per unit in Thane, Kalyan and Khalapur sized 322 square feet each.

Mr Lahane said, “Whatever information was asked I have submitted my reply in which I have said that we have all the permissions and we should be allowed to go ahead with the work further. There is nothing more to be read in the matter.”

When Mr Fadnavis was contacted over whether a written reply was received from Mhada or any further action would be taken on the officers, the chief minister did not reply to the text message.

Meanwhile, housing minister Prakash Mehta did not comment on whether any further action would be taken in the matter. He said, “The bids for PMAY will now be floated only after the required land for construction of homes in transferred under the name of the Mhada. Also, the conditions in the bid document will now be neutral and we expect to have big international and domestic firms bidding for the project.”

What is PMAY?:
After the BJP government came to power in 2014, the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana (RGAY) was replaced with the PMAY. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PMAY on June 25, 2015. The state aims to construct 1.1 lakh homes for Economical Weaker Section (EWS) under PMAY in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).