In a first, eunuchs can apply for their dream house in the national Capital under the 2014 Housing Scheme of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The application forms for the scheme, this time, have also included the category of ‘eunuchs’ apart from the usual sexes. Meanwhile, on the third day after it was launched, the DDA sold over 50,000 application forms for the sale of 25,034 flats in Delhi under the mega housing scheme. With around 50,000 applicants registering for the biggest ever scheme in the city, Wednesday witnessed the highest number of application forms being sold since it was flagged off.
The move comes after the Centre’s direction that transgenders and widows ought to get Government backing to own a house in urban areas. “Everyone is entitled for a house, especially the needy. We decided to include transgenders because they are the ones, among others, who face a lot of difficulty in getting a home. People do not rent out homes to them. So owning their own home would be a being independent for them,” said a senior DDA official.
On the other hand, forms for the scheme sold like hot cakes on day three as well with 50,000 being sold on Wednesday. While 30,000 forms were sold on the first day on Monday, Tuesday saw more than 40,000 forms being sold. “Nearly 20,000 forms were sold at our headquarters Vikas Sadan and nearly 30,000 forms were sold at different branches of the 13 empanelled banks,” said a DDA spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the DDA has removed the application forms for its new housing scheme from its official website, which crashed on Monday following sudden spike in traffic. Now the online forms would be available on the sites of the 13 authorised or empanelled banks, DDA said. Meanwhile, the DDA website became accessible on Tuesday after the housing scheme’s brochure was removed from it.
The DDA website informed the visitors that application brochure/forms can now be downloaded from the websites of the 13 banks or the applicants can apply online through the websites of Central Bank of India, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, Indusland Bank, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Corporation Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
DDA removes scheme’s brochure from its website after it crashes due to heavy traffic.