Mhada rejects 11k lottery applications

Mumbai:The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has rejected 11,179 forms of those who had applied for 2,593 flats to be sold through lottery on Thursday. This is the first time that the authority has cancelled so many forms before the lottery was held.      Now, the number of applications has dropped to approximately 1.4 lakh from the earlier over 1.5 lakh.      Mhada officials said the rejection followed a major scam wherein an inquiry committee found that 425 winners of the 2011 lottery had submitted fake addresses and bank account numbers. While 100 winners resubmitted their papers for fresh scrutiny, the committee found that nearly 30 applicants had won the lottery more than once since 2006. Mhada is soon expected to file a FIR against the applicants who submitted fake papers and brokers who are involved in the scam.      According to a Mhada Act provision, the board is supposed to scrutinize the documents before including them in a lottery. However, the board does not invite any enclosures from the applicants as the form is filled online, and hence, the procedure for scrutiny is dropped. This works to certain applicants' advantage as they fill forms repeatedly. "To avoid a repeat of 2011, we insisted that every applicant submits address proof and Permanent Account Number this time," a Mhada spokesperson said.      An analysis revealed that Pratiksha Nagar in Sion was the preferred location for middle-income group category buyers. Mhada has received more than 18,000 applications for the 84 flats in Pratiksha Nagar. Projects at Malwani, Malad received the highest low-income group applications—14,787 for 282 flats while Vinobha Bhave Nagar received 14,339 applications for 137 flats. Powai with 55 flats was the preferred location for 11,897 high-income group buyers.      TURNED DOWN  • Four forms rejected due to wrong names on Demand drafts  • 6,385 applications rejected as a single person has applied under various income groups for same and different projects  • 618 rejected as a single person has applied under SC, ST and general categories for the same project  • 3,995 had same bank account numbers but different names  • 177 bore same Permanent Account Numbers but different names