MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has drafted an ambitious plan to end the role of leading builders and developers in the redevelopment of slums.
"I have carefully studied the slum development rules," Fadnavis said in an interview. "So far leading builders and developers were playing a crucial role in drafting and implementing slum development schemes. In my opinion, it should not be a builder-driven scheme. I feel slumdwellers should have the final say and they will choose the developer by secret ballot."
Ever since Fadnavis took over as CM on October 31, he has been focusing on slum redevelopment as a priority. During the tenure of his predecessor Prithviraj Chavan, the entire slum redevelopment work had come to a grinding halt since he did not clear even a single scheme.
Fadnavis cleared most pending proposals which were within the framework of the law.
"Genuine schemes should not be stuck in procedural wrangle and red tape," Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis said when he took a review of the slum development schemes, he found all the schemes were driven by the developers and builders and slum-dwellers had very little say in it.
"I have simplified the process," he said. "Now slumdwellers have the final say."
Fadnavis said that in view of the large-scale irregularities in drafting the list of eligible persons, also known as annexure-II, he asked the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) chief officer to first prepare a list of beneficiaries and then take steps for development of a slum.
"So far, builders and developers played a key role in drafting the annexure-II," he said. "Quite a large number of bogus or in-eligible persons were included in annexure-II. Under the new rules, annexure-II will be prepared by the deputy collector."
He said once the list of eligible persons is ready, the deputy collector will convene a general body meeting of all the eligible.
"In the general body meeting, the deputy collector will seek the opinion of the eligible persons on the developer," he said. "If there is more than one developer, then there will be a secret ballot to choose the developer. My aim is to involve the slum dwellers in the decision making process instead of a developer taking them for a ride."
Source : The Economic Times (ETRealty.com)
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