NEW DELHI: Following protests by members of the Delhi Development Authority, the Union Urban Development Ministry on Friday withdrew the proposed auction of DDA flats and reverted to the earlier lottery mode instead.

In a signed statement, Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said Delhi Lieutenant-Governor B. L. Joshi had spoken to him over the phone on Wednesday and conveyed to him the sentiments of the elected members of DDA against the proposed auction of flats.

At the request of the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr Reddy said he received two elected members of DDA -- Mahabal Mishra and Virender Kasana -- on Thursday who pleaded against the auction mode. In view of the strong sentiments of the elected members of DDA, the Minister said it was appropriate to revert to the lottery mode and DDA has been informed accordingly.

The decision to auction all Higher Income Group (HIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) flats of DDA had created a flutter on Tuesday.

No sooner did the members come to know of the shift in policy, they objected to the move saying it would reduce the role of DDA to that of a mere builder and also make the flats prohibitively expensive, taking them beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.

With the change in policy now, the immediate impact would be felt on 3,000-odd flats of the HIG and MIG categories that have been lying completed but not allotted as the Ministry was earlier opposed to the idea of allotment. DDA, which had not been able to come out with another scheme after Festival Housing Scheme 2004, can now put them up for allotment.

Though DDA would not be able to earn as much through the allotment mode, it would be able to serve its social obligation better by providing at least some people with affordable houses.

But now that it has reverted to the allotment mode, DDA would need to make screening of applications more stringent and ensure that those already possessing property in Delhi are not able to speculate and corner the limited flats available and, as in the case of the previous 3 lakh flats allotted by DDA, the benefits reach out to those genuinely in need.

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