MHADA to reserve homes for abused women, maids, drivers

From the next MHADA lottery, the state housing authority is planning to include a new segment of reservation. This quota will include women who have survived acid attacks, physical and sexual abuse, single mothers and/or divorced women, and commercial sex workers.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is also planning to reserve flats for people from the unorganised sector, like drivers, house helps, street vendors, etc.

Incidentally, the new quota will be taken from the flats reserved for MPs, MLAs and government employees under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). MHADA is also planning to create a
separate category for the transgender community.

Officialspeak
"Any person earning less than Rs 20,000 per month falls in the EWS bracket. However, 21 per cent is reserved for government employees and leaders, even when they earn more. Reserving flats for them does not make any sense," said a senior officer from the state authority.

The Oversight Committee has also recommended the government that the flats for this new quota should be cheaper than other EWS flats. N K Sudhanshu, chief officer from MHADA's Mumbai Board, said, "Prices of the flats will be adjusted accordingly."

"Providing reservation to women, especially women in distress, will be really helpful for them. Many have been expelled from society, for no fault of their own. By getting a house, and that too at a cheaper rate, it will help them become self-dependent and live a better life," said an officer from MHADA.

An officer associated with the plan spoke about MHADA's proposal for people from the unorganised sector, "Auto rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, street vendors, house helps, etc. mostly end up without homes, as their monthly income is not sufficient for them to even buy a MHADA flat. By making a category for them, we can provide them homes at a cheaper rate."