Housing for BPL families in Gurugram: Haryana govt scraps flat allotments following detection of irregularities

A government scheme for providing housing to the poor in Haryana turned out to be a money spinner for realtors. Following detection of large-scale manipulations in allotment of 408 residential flats for the below the poverty line (BPL) families in Gurugram in 2021, the Haryana government has decided to cancel the allotment and go for auction of the flats. The matter pertained to allotment of 1,719 housing board flats for BPL families in sectors 49, 48, 67,73, 91 and 92 of Gurugram.

Officials said that chief minister, Nayab Singh Saini approved the cancellation of allotments of flats last week and ordered that they be allotted through e-auction.

The Haryana Housing Board had floated a scheme for allotment of 1,719 flats under self-financing scheme for BPL and economically weaker sections families in 2018. A total of 8,258 applications were received for the housing scheme. Draws for allotment of 408 constructed flats was held on February 9, 2021. Officials said that an in-house inquiry and one by Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) was conducted after complaints of manipulations were made by certain individuals. The ACB also registered a first information report at Gurugram on March 7, 2025.

What were the irregularities?

Officials said that a number of irregularities were found in the entire process which were also evident from the inquiry report of the ACB. “No scrutiny of applications and applicants was done before the draws to ascertain whether they were eligible or whether there were any discrepancies in their documents. The initial draw for identifying 1,719 successful applicants was conducted in offline mode by rotating drum. Therefore, it was possible that the slips of the desired applicants were taken out in a particular manner,” said an official.

Officials said no scrutiny of 1,719 successful applicants was done even after the draws were held. “The videography of the draw is not available. It would have helped in ascertaining if the draw was conducted in a fair manner or not,” said an official.

‘Bulk possession letters dispatched at single address’

According to an inquiry conducted by Housing Board secretary, 37 addresses and 32 mobile numbers were used in more than one application. “Four BPL cards were found to have been used for multiple applications. An applicant who applied for the housing scheme was a minor,” said an official.

The ACB in its inquiry found that possession of two flats was handed over a particular BPL card while the possession of one flat was handed over to an underage applicant.

“Bulk possession letters were dispatched at a single address. Allotment money was deposited by different entities like M/s AHI Housing, Gurugram, Kanishka Properties, Gurugram for a number of flats. The software used in draw was not fully secured, certified and authenticated,” the ACB inquiry report said.

One person submitted 1,110 applications using different BPL cards

The inquiry report further said that it has come to light that a private person, Vikas Chahal managed to submit 1,110 applications by arranging BPL card holders from Jind and Safidon and used his and his father’s mobile number. The ACB found out that Chahal managed to get 127 flats allotted in the name of his near and dears. Some of these flats were sold after earning a good profit.

“Another person, Deepak submitted 733 applications by arranging BPL cards holders of Jind and Safidon by using his and his father’s mobile number. During the online draw of flats, he managed to get 45 flats allotted in the names of his near and dears. Some of them were sold after earning good profit,” the ACB report said.

‘Scheme designed to ensure limited participation’

State officials said that right from its inception, the scheme was designed with vested interests in mind. “Care was taken to ensure that there was limited participation, and these flats end up with chosen individuals,” said an official.

For instance, applications were invited only through two banks, Sarve Haryana Gramin Bank and Haryana State Co-Operative Apex Bank. “There was no preliminary scrutiny of the applications that were received through these banks to ensure the applicants belong to the BPL or EWS. The number of addresses and phone numbers were the same and photos of applicants were not attested. The draw of lots was conducted manually on January 21, 2019, by pulling out slips from a drum. At a time when draws were conducted electronically by every other organisation in the state, it’s difficult to comprehend why Housing Board chose to conduct a manual draw,” said an official involved in the inquiry.