If all goes well, the land freed from the clutches of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed will serve as a home to around 76 families in the plush Lukerganj area of Prayagraj. The Uttar Pradesh government is building residential flats in the area for beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the allocation process for which is likely to begin from the next financial year.
“In total, two blocks are being constructed on the land measuring 1,731 sq m and these will be ground plus three-storey buildings,” said Ajit Kumar Singh, secretary of the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA), which is the construction agency for the project.
Singh said one block will have 36 houses while the other will have 40. These will soon be allotted after a draw of lots, he added.
Officials with the PDA said more than 6,000 online applications had been received for the allotment of 76 houses being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) on this piece of land freed from Ahmed’s possession.
“The response was overwhelming. The PDA has received around Rs 3.16 crore from interested individuals as ‘guarantee money’ submitted along with applications. The applications have been sent to the state urban development authority (SUDA) for verification, following which houses will be allotted through lottery system,” they said.
Officials further said for those who do not get a flat through the lottery system, the guarantee money will be refunded. While flats will be allotted through a draw of lots, the PMAY beneficiary will have to pay Rs 3.5 lakh while the rest of the money, incurred as the cost of the house, will be shared by the state and central governments, they added.
Out of the total applications received, close to 2,000 applications were found to be eligible for allotment. The foundation stone of the ambitious project was laid by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in December 2021. The houses are being constructed on land located under Allahabad West assembly seat.
Before being elected as MP from Phulpur, Ahmed was an MLA from this assembly seat five times in a row. His winning streak was broken by Raju Pal, who had contested on a BSP ticket. But after his assassination in 2005 and the follow-up bypoll in the same year, Ahmed’s younger brother Khalid Azeem won the seat.
In 2007, however, Raju Pal’s widow Pooja Pal wrested the set away and retained it in 2012 as well. In 2017, BJP’s Sidharth Nath Singh won the seat and retained it in 2022.
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