More than 18,000 tenements built for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) by state government-run agencies in Delhi have no occupants, years after their construction. This was indicated in the Delhi government’s recently-published outcome budget – a report card on what various ministries and departments have done with the outlays in the previous annual budget, in a bid to ensure discipline in expenditure.

The data of thousands of dwelling units remaining vacant for years is in sharp contrast with Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s promise in its 2015 Assembly election manifesto of providing “housing for all”.

According to the findings, a total of 17,660 dwellings have been built by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (DSIIDC), and 3,064 by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for the urban poor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

But the record of allotment of these tenements, as mentioned in the outcome budget, is abysmal. The findings show that of the 3,027 dwellings built by the DUSIB, only 1,927 have been allotted to beneficiaries in the last four years. No data related to allotment of tenements built by the DSIIDC has been shared in the outcome budget.

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