House-hunters beat bandh for Mhada lottery

Mumbai: For Vinayak Pagare, a 40-something businessman owning a travel agency, early afternoon is normally the time he meets prospective clients in his Thane office. But, this Thursday was different for Pagare. Notwithstanding the bandh call to oppose petrol price hike, Pagare and his wife were at Rang Sharada auditorium at 11 am where the lottery to sell 2,593 Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) flats was being conducted. 

    "I know winning a lottery is pure luck, but being present at the venue and hoping against hope to win a home were more pressing concerns than that of the bandh,'' said Pagare, after spending a disappointing one-hour watching the giant screen roll out names of successful winners of Mhada lottery. 

    This is the third time Pagare didn't win a flat inthe lottery. 

    Pagare was not the only one. A large number of Mumbaikars—though not in lakhs as in earlier lotteries—had beaten bandh concerns to turn up at the venue. "I wanted to see how the lottery was conducted and was hoping my family wins a flat,'' said Maya Korde, a 30-something film artiste from Goregaon. She, along with her kin, had applied in 10 projects. S B Ballal, a retired professional and his wife, had come all the way from Pune to reach the venue at 11am. 

    The bandh apart, Mhada's decision to reject 11,179 applications over discrepancies in details provided saw angry protests by applicants. According to an aggrieved applicant, Dr Ashok Sabale, "Either Mhada is confused about its own rules or the software is faulty. How can applications of a couple be rejected merely for bearing the same bank account number? Is it not obvious that a working couple like us could hold a joint bank account but have separate PANs?'' 

    Mhada had rejected all six applications made separately by Sabale and his wife. Satish Gavai, Mhada's chief executive officer dismissed the protests as stray incidents. "We were very clear that no concessions would be given this year and that every applicant should hold a unique bank account and a PAN card. We did this as only agents have the financial capacity to apply in multiple projects,'' said Gavai. 

    Prabhu Khot, an accountant who volunteered to work as an observer in the lottery, won an LIG flat in Malwani. Khot won the lottery after applying three times. Similar was the case with Renuka Bhopale, a Mhada employee, who won an MIG flat in Malwani. 

Next draw in 2013 

Mhada is planning another lottery to sell 4,272 flats in 2013. Of these, the bulk of 2,486 flats will be located in Virar for Land MIG flat purchasers. The rest of the flats are located in Kole Kalyan (Santa Cruz), Charkop, Malwani, Powai, Mulund and Kurla and will comprise Economically Weaker Section, LIG and MIG buyers. There will no flats for the HIG.

QUICK CHECK: Hopefuls at the lottery