Maharashtra to probe housing quota misuse

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) The Maharashtra government will probe instances of politicians and bureaucrats allegedly acquiring more than one flat under the housing quota, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said here Wednesday.

"We shall conduct an inquiry into these reports through the two-member commission which is investigating the Adarsh society case after its probe in the (Adarsh Society) case is completed," Chavan informed the state legislative council.

His reply came to a query by Leader of Opposition Vinod Tawade of the Bharatiya Janat Party and Peasants and Workers Party member Jayant Patil who demanded stringent action against such beneficiaries from the government housing quotas.

Besides the bureaucrats, Chavan said there was a suspicion that even politicians had acquired more than one flat either in their own names or in the names of their relatives from government quotas taking advantages of loopholes in the law.

Chavan also announced a probe into the administrative delays in handing over 847 flats, developed by 23 private builders in Mumbai and Thane, under the Urban Land Ceiling Act.