UT Administrator Badnore expresses ignorance, says ‘no discretion for this Governor’. UT Administrator Badnore expresses ignorance, says ‘no discretion for this Governor’. The Chandigarh Housing Board proposes to keep 5 per cent of the total 492 flats of the housing scheme in Sector 53 for allotment under the UT Administrator’s “discretionary quota” category. The practice of making DQ allotments was stopped 18 years ago by the then UT Administrator Lt Gen J F R Jacob. However, when contacted, UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore said that he was unaware of the move. “This is news to me. No discretion for this Governor,” he said. The CHB’s proposal will be put up in the next board meeting scheduled for later this month. If approved, the UT Administrator shall be able to allot 25 flats at his discretion. However, the CHB’s proposal is silent on the category of flats that the Administrator will be authorised to give under DQ. In the scheme, which will be launched in the first week of December, cost of a three-bedroom flat is likely to be around Rs 85-90 lakh, two- bedroom nearly Rs 68-70 lakh and one-bedroom around Rs 30 lakh. The project will come up on an area of 8.98 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. Out of 492 units, 192 will be HIG flats (three rooms), 100 MIG (two rooms), 120 LIG (one-room sets) and 80 will be EWS units. A senior officer of CHB, not willing to be quoted, said, “We are yet to finalise the scheme’s details.” The draft proposed in the brochure for the scheme, accessed by Chandigarh Newsline, stated, “Twenty-five units that is five per cent of the total number of dwelling units under the scheme are kept for allotment out of the discretionary quota of the Administrator, Union Territory Chandigarh, as per provisions of regulation 26. The allotment of the flats under discretionary quota will be made separately to the prescribed category persons under Chandigarh Housing Board Regulations 1979 as amended from time to time.” As per Rule 26, there were categories that the Administrator could exercise his discretion to allot flats to persons who have distinguished themselves in different fields like social welfare, sports, education, academics at national level, persons who have performed acts of heroism to save human lives, war widows and widows of defence personnel or persons with 50 per cent or more disability in war, counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism operations. The three-bedroom sets will have the facility of twin basements while the two-room sets will have one stilt. Also, there would be a provision for lifts in all the towers. And, apart from solar power generation facility there, CCTVs would also be installed. As per the proposed brochure, the applicant has to be a bonafide resident of Chandigarh. However, this condition shall not apply for serving or retired defence personnel and the pensioners or family pensioners of defence forces, employees and retired employees of Government of India, Punjab, Haryana governments and Chandigarh and their boards, corporations. People of Panchkula and Mohali won’t be able to apply for the scheme unless they are under the above categories. For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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