Over 6,000 apply for PMAY houses on land freed from ex-MP Atiq Ahmed’s possession

After the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) invited online applications for allotment of 76 houses being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana on the piece of land freed from Mafiosi-turned-politician and ex-MP Atiq Ahmed’s possession in Lukerganj, over 6,000 individuals have applied.

The PDA has received around ₹3.16 crore from the interested individuals as ‘guarantee money’ submitted along with the applications and now these applications have been sent to State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) for verification after which houses would be allotted through lottery system.

Guarantee money of those applicants who do not get a flat in the lottery draw would be refunded, informed PDA officials.

“The window for the online application for the allotment of these PMAY houses was closed on July 31. The PDA has received 6,071 applications and these would now be sent to SUDA for verification. Once we receive the list of eligible applicants, the lottery would be conducted and the houses would be allotted”, said vice-chairman, PDA, Arvind Chauhan.

The houses would be allotted as per the lottery system and the beneficiary under PMAY would have to pay ₹3.5 lakh while the rest of the money, incurred as the cost of the house, would be shared by state and central government, informed secretary, PDA, Ajeet Singh.

The PDA VC has regularly been inspecting the ongoing construction work at the site and has been issuing necessary instructions to the construction agency working at the site.

“We are constructing two blocks on the land measuring 1731 square metres and these would be ground plus three-storey buildings”, said Chauhan. Block A would have 36 houses while block B would have 40 houses and these would soon be allotted after the lottery, he added.

The foundation stone of the ambitious project, which hogged the limelight during this year’s state assembly elections, was laid by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in December 2021. The houses are being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana on the land that is located under Allahabad West assembly seat.

Before being elected as MP from Phulpur, Atiq Ahmed was an MLA from this assembly seat five times in a row. Later, his winning streak was broken by Raju Pal who had contested on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. But after his assassination in 2005 and the follow-up by-poll, Atiq’s younger brother Khalid Azeem had won the seat in 2005 itself. However, in 2007, Raju Pal’s widow Pooja Pal had wrested the set and retained it in 2012 as well. However, in 2017, BJP’s Sidharth Nath Singh had won the seat and retained it in 2022 as well.