THE Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp Ltd (SPPL) floated by the Shiv Sena-BJP government to build free houses for slumdwellers in Mumbai is likely to be taken over by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
The issue was discussed at a meeting called by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday when several senior officials of the state and MHADA called for ending the special status of SPPL as its functions overlapped with that of MHADA.
“The SPPL owes Rs 350 crore to MHADA and there is no point in allowing it to continue with its separate status,” a senior bureaucrat said. “The MHADA should be allowed to take over the company as MHADA has all the required expertise and experience to carry out the work SPPL needs to do.”
MHADA officials told Deshmukh that while the SPPL’s performance had not been up to the mark, MHADA had been reduced to a complaint redressal agency with no major project at hand. Deshmukh, then, told officials of MHADA and SPPL to sit together and explore the possibility of a MHADA takeover of SPPL.
The SPPL was established by the Manohar Joshi government in 1998 to realise Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s dream of providing free houses to about 40 lakh slumdwellers in Mumbai in five years. The slumdwellers (who were on voters’ list of 1995) were to be rehabilitated on government land in tenements built by builders, who were to get rights to exploit portion of the land for commercial benefits.
However, the company could not meet its target and in 1999, when Deshmukh became the Chief Minister for the first time, he mooted the idea of scrapping the company. In 2001, a committee under former municipal commissioner S S Tinaikar was formed. The panel criticised the scheme for misusing public property and sentiments of the poor to help builders. By March 2001, SPPL had constructed only 7,461 houses, while about 40,000 were incomplete. The SPPL was, however, allowed to continue as there were incomplete works at hand. It could construct only about 19,000 dwelling units. The target for the SPPL was also scaled down to two lakh units.
The Minister of State for Housing, Preetamkumar Shegaonkar, however, said that though there were certain shortcomings, the SPPL was doing well. “Over the past two-three years, the performance of SPPL has increased,” he said. “I am personally trying to weed out corruption and punish erring contractors engaged by the SPPL. Officials with questionable integrity on deputation to MHADA and SPPL have been transferred. The company was in problem because of errant contractors…the situation is now improving.”
Senior officials pointed out that since Deshmukh was interested in dismantling the company, there would be little that Shegaonkar could do.