MOST URGENT

BY SPEED POST / EMAIL

Dated: 8^th December, 2012

To

The CEO, CGEWHO,

Janpath Bhawan, ‘A’ Wing,

6^th Floor, Janpath,

New Delhi – 110 001

 

SUB:    REPRESENTATION AGAINST CGEWHO, GREATER NOIDA HOUSING SCHEME TO PRESERVE FAST DECAYING REPUTATION, INTEGRITY AND OBJECTIVE OF THE CGEWHO, WHICH ARE ALL AT STAKE ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS.

 

REF:     (I)         ADVERTISEMENT  &  BROCHURE  OF CGEWHO’S GREATER NOIDA

                        HOUSING SCHEME AT SECTOR P-4, GREATER NOIDA, U.P.

           

            (II)        MINUTES OF 48^TH AND 49^TH MEETING OF THE GOVERNING

                        COUNCIL, CGEWHO.

 

Respected Sir,

 

            With due regard and respect, I wish to state that Greater Noida Housing Scheme at Sector P-4, Greater Noida, U.P. was launched by CGEWHO on 1^st January, 2011 and a baffling fact that the Scheme is still to see the light of the day, which raises many unanswered questions.  In this connection, it is mentioned that huge financial loss has already been done to the applicants of Greater Noida Housing Scheme by announcing & advertising this Scheme without finalizing the parameters like pre-finalizing of FAR, final area, construction agency, structural consultants, plants approved by GNIDA.  This puts a huge question mark on the sanctity of the Scheme as well as on the working of the CGEWHO itself.  The question arises who are the beneficiaries after all by launching a Housing Scheme in such a unmindful haste and what are the reasons behind it?  Who is responsible and what action has been taken against the individual(s) responsible for such illogical decisions badly affecting the interests of thousands of Central Government employees and the image and trustworthiness of CGEWHO itself?  CGEWHO should have launched the scheme properly after firming up all the essential parameters.  This would have enabled CGEWHO to declare the cost of the dwelling unit at the launching stage itself enabling the applicants to take a decision in January, 2011 itself after comparing the prevailing market rates.  This could have also avoided collection of EMD from all the applicants and holding the same for such a long time.  It is highly disappointing to note that EMD collected by CGEWHO has been with the organisation for more than one and half year and no interest has been paid to the applicants.  Had the Scheme been launched after careful planning, applicants would have been in a better position to explore other options in the property market and book the houses with private developers in the year 2011 itself, than to wait for the CGEWHO scheme to come.  The Scheme has already taken a big toll of the patience of innocent government employees.  Details of dwelling units, draw and initial registration process of 1240 and likely commencement of construction in first quarter of 2012 were well explained to the employees to lure and attract for applying for this scheme.  However, since beginning the Scheme has been nothing sort of a mirage.

 

2.         The Scheme was launched on 3^rd January, 2011.  At that point of time, so many private property developers had also launched various affordable schemes in that area at the rates which were within the budget of the government servants.  Those who had booked the flats with private developers in the year 2011 have paid the price pertaining to that year which was far less than the rates which are prevailing today.  Since the CGEWHO did not declare the rates, many Central Government employees did not opt for the Scheme launched by the private property developers in the hope that CGEWHO Scheme being a Government welfare scheme, would a much more affordable, reliable and secured option.  But, the way Greater Noida Scheme is being handled by CGEWHO, it seems that all the hopes and faith in organisation are fading very fast with every passing day.

 

3.         In this connection, CGEWHO management may kindly clarify with an open letter to all the Greater Noida Scheme allottees whether they will maintain the property rates prevailing at the time of closing of the Scheme, i.e., 3^rd March, 2011.  If the rate is likely to be declared is not at the level of property rates prevailing at the times of closing of the Scheme, the same may kindly be justified/explained through open letter.  True justice and welfare will be done to the applicants of the Scheme only when the rates are kept at the level of March, 2011 or preferably even below that.

 

4.         Please clarify through an open letter, what parameters are required to qualify CGEWHO for launching any housing scheme and who is the competent authority to give approval for launching any housing scheme.

 

5.         CGEWHO must also declare the amount of interest earned till date from the EMD of all applicants in the Greater Noida Housing Scheme and its further investment planning of the interests earned.  AS PER CALCULATIONS, THE CGEWHO HAS GOT RS.74,07,00,000/- (RUPEES SEVENTY FOUR CRORES AND SEVEN LAKHS ONLY) AS EMD FROM THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR GREATER NOIDA SCHEME.  IF THE EMPLOYEES WOULD HAVE PUT THAT HARD EARNED MONEY IN AN FIXED DEPOSIT, THEY WOULD HAVE GOT AT LEAST AN INTEREST OF AROUND 9% PER YEAR, WHICH TRANSLATES TO AN AMOUNT OF RS.13,33,26,000/- (RUPEES THIRTEEN CRORES THIRTY THREE LAKHS AND TWENTY SIX THOUSANDS ONLY) AS INTEREST ON EMD FOR TWO YEARS.  CGEWHO MUST EXPLAIN HOW THEY ARE GOING TO UTILIZE THIS INTEREST AMOUNT FOR LOWERING THE COST OF FLATS IN CGEWHO GREATER NOIDA SCHEME.

 

6.         CGEWHO BEING A WELFARE AND A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION, IT MUST BE ENSURED THAT NO PROFITS FROM THIS SCHEME SHOULD BE MADE OR TRANSFERRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY WAY OF DIVIDENDS, BONUS, PROFITS OR IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER TO THE EMPLOYEES, PRESENT OR THE PAST BENEFICIARIES OF THE SOCIETY OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON CLAIMING THROUGH ANY ONE OR MORE OF THE PRESENT OR THE PAST BENEFICIARIES.  CGEWHO’S FINANCIAL LOSSES, IF ANY, FROM ANY OTHER SCHEME(S) OR ANY BUSINESS SHOULD NOT BE COMPENSATED IN ANY MANNER FROM THE PROFIT MADE IN GREATER NOIDA HOUSING SCHEME.  ALL THE ACCOUNTINGS SHOULD BE DONE SEPARATELY FOR THE GREATER NOIDA SCHEME.  ALL THE PROFITS FROM THE SCHEME MUST ONLY AND ONLY BE ADJUSTED IN LOWERING THE COST OF FLATS IN THIS SCHEME.  CGEWHO MAY LIKE TO CLARIFY THIS ISSUE THROUGH AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL ALLOTTEES OF THE GREATER NOIDA SCHEME AT THE EARLIEST ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS.

 

7.         CGEWHO should publish tentative date of completion period of the project within ± months and take responsibility to ensure that possession of flats is offered within the stipulated schedule.  The delay in the project due to incompetency of CGEWHO or any other reasons like tendering process, procurement process, appointment of consultants, lack of professional ability of construction agency or any other agency involved in the project, etc., must not escalate the cost and affect the overall cost of the flats.

 

8.         Considering the ridiculously dirt cheap cost of land paid by CGEWHO to GNIDA for acquiring the land at Sector-P4, Greater Noida, the applicants were quite sure that the flats cost/sq. ft. may not go beyond Rs.2000/sq. ft. in the Scheme even if they outsource the whole planning and construction to any private developer and that’s the only reason the applicants are stuck with the scheme for a torturing period of 2 years even while CGEWHO had denied to pay any interest to them on their hard earned money for the said period of 2 years.  However, enquiry at CGEWHO Office has disclosed that the price of the Greater Noida Housing Scheme is going to be in the range of Rs.3300-3600 /sq. ft. and officials also added that the increase in price is due to inclusion of modern and sophisticated specification in the preparation of estimate and that CPWD basis standard specification is excluded for this Scheme and further added that rate of compulsory car parking has also been included in the above price.

 

9.         The question arises why and on what kind of calculations such exorbitantly high rates are being anticipated by the CGEWHO, which are on higher side even when compared to private developers.  The main component of the cost of a housing project is the land cost and it is necessary to mention here that the land has been acquired by CGEWHO for Greater Noida Scheme at ridiculously dirt cheap prices­­ @Rs.600/m² (Rs.56/ft.²) in 2006.  EVEN IF WE ASSUME THAT THE AMOUNT PAID FOR LAND IN 2006 HAS DOUBLED WITH INTEREST THEREON DURING THE LAST 6 YEARS TILL 2012, IT WILL ADD ONLY RS.112/SQ.FT. TOWARDS THE COST OF LAND IN THE TOTAL COST OF A FLAT PER SQ. FT.  THE CURRENT MINIMUM RESERVE PRICE FOR THE SAME LAND IS ABOUT 32 TIMES OF THAT RATE, I.E., RS.19100/M² (RS.1775/FT²), WHICH CAN EVEN GO HIGHER ON FINAL BIDDING.  Over and above that, the CGEWHO has got approval from the GNIDA to increase the FAR for the project from 150 to 275, which is almost double and makes the effective cost of land for CGEWHO even lower.  With regard to construction cost, for affordable housing projects with no frills, construction costs vary from Rs.1,300/sq.ft. to Rs.1500/sq.ft. (Copy of “The Economic Times” Section “Real Estate” News dated 5^th May, 2012 is enclosed herewith for reference as Annexure-I) (Online Link: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-05/news/31586494_1_labour-shortage-input-costs-construction-costs).  It may also be relevant to mention here that the rates of property by private builders in that area start from Rs.2400/sq. ft., who have got the land at market rates and that too through bidding process (Copy of the Times Property, Page-2, of the Times of India, dated 17^th November, 2012 is enclosed herewith for ready reference as Annexure-II).    Even ready-to-move-in property in that area is available starting from Rs.3000/sq. ft., which are also Societies built by various Government Housing Welfare Organisations, like AWHO, Jalvayu Vihar, IFSOWO, NHPC, NSG, Kendriya Lok Nirman, etc., who also follow the high standards of construction.  Rates in Greater Noida (West) are also starting from Rs.2500/sq. ft.  Anybody can check and confirm these facts by going to renowned real estate websites like www.99acres.com or www.magicbricks.com and almost all newspapers are filled with such offers now-a-days.  Considering all these facts, the rates of Greater Noida Scheme must not go beyond Rs.2200/sq.ft, even if CGEWHO outsources planning and construction.  In these circumstances, there seems to be no reasonable ground to pay such a huge amount to CGEWHO for a flat in Greater Noida.

 

10.       As the land has been obtained from the Government agency at administered price, details of the cost per sq. ft. for the allotted land and construction cost per sq. ft. and interests paid for acquisition of land, if any, must be made available in detail to all the successful applicants for a better transparent system.

 

11.       CGEWHO is building the houses for Central Government employees, how can an employee afford the house even at the rate of Rs.2500/sq. ft. (which is also the starting rate for private developer in the same area, as mentioned in para 9 above with valid proof).  How can CGEWHO expect a government employee applying for 4BHK to pay the price of 70-80 lakhs.  Central Government employees do not demand for any high end amenities and exceptional specifications, like swimming pools, club houses, gym, etc. (which are even being provided by private developers at lower rates than CGEWHO in the same area). It should be only a decent construction.  Beneficiaries should be paying actual building cost and nothing else.  Scheme being a welfare scheme for the Central Government employees, CGEWHO has the social and moral responsibility to make the Scheme an affordable, reliable, secured and highly cost effective for its beneficiaries.

 

12.       It is very disappointing to say that the scheme has been badly delayed by the CGEWHO and the fact that CGEWHO has still not been able to declare the rates even after expiry of more than two months since the draw.  CGEWHO must explain as to why advance planning like preparation of estimates, selection of construction agency, etc. has not been done prior to draw to avoid further delays in the project.

 

13.       It’s high time that CGEWHO should understand the extreme plight of Central Government employees and that with more delay in project, financial loss is increasing by additions and, therefore, matter should be given utmost importance and escalation-free affordable rates should be declared (anything between Rs.1500/sq. ft. to 2000/sq. ft. as clarified in Para-9 above) for all the successful applicants on an urgent basis so that CGEWHO could prevent a flop show at the Scheme and its seriously losing image/reliability may not take any further dent.

 

14.       May I kindly request you to give due importance in providing the above clarifications and address all the above issues raised in this letter, in the best interests of Central Government employees and CGEWHO itself.  It is high time that the competent authorities must suitably ADDRESS THE GENUINE CONCERNS OF MORE THAN 5000 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES who had applied for this project and put their hard earned money for more than 2 years in CGEWHO’s coffers to only know that their faith and trust is being shattering with each and every step of CGEWHO.  It will also be in the best interests of CGEWHO to address these issues urgently, so as to prevent any LEGAL RECOURSE by employees and further delays in the project.

 

15.       The facts mentioned above are based on factual position which could be understood even by a layman and, therefore, need no proof, still I have made some available, and this letter is enough to wake up and give a serious thought to the actual purpose and very existence of CGEWHO.  IN THESE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE IS A BIG QUESTION MARK ON THE SAME NOW.

 

16.       Finally, I wish that the matter being highly sensitive and linked to the general welfare of Central Government employees, there would be some effect of this letter on the well wishers of Central Government employees and CGEWHO and some proactive action will be taken at the higher levels to safeguard the interests of about 5000 Central Government employees who have put their hard earned money into the Greater Noida Scheme of CGEWHO and, at least now onwards, the CGEWHO’s decisions will be mindful and realistic and the applicants will be informed of the realistic position based on facts and truth.  Only that and that will preserve the faith and trust of Central Government employees in CGEWHO.  THE SITUATION IS EXTREMELY ALARMING AND NEED A WISE HANDLING OF THE MATTER ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS.   OTHERWISE, THE GREATER NOIDA SCHEME IS ALSO GOING TO BE A HUGE FLOP AND EVEN GENERAL PUBLIC WILL REJECT IT, and mind it, it’s not a joke.

 

            Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

 

Sd/-

(On behalf of all the waiting Applicants of CGEWHO’s Greater Noida Scheme)

 

Copy for information and with a request for kind intervention in the matter:

 

1. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, PMO Office, New Delhi.

2. Hon’ble Minister, M/o HUPA

3. Shri Arun Kumar Misra, President, Governing Council, CGEWHO & Secretary, M/o HUPA

4. Shri N.K Nampoothiry, Addl Secretary (Legislative), M/o Law & Justice.

5. Shri Susheel kumar, Jt Secretary (H), M/o HUPA.

6. Joint Secretary & Financial Advisor, M/o HUPA.

7. Ms. S.K. Ram, Dy Financial Advisor, M/o HUPA

8. Shri V.P. Baligar, CMD, HUDCO

9. Shri Suresh Pal, Addl Secretary & CWO, M/o Personnel, PG & Pension.

10. Shri R.C. Agarwal, Dy Director (Finance), CGEWHO

11. Shri Arun Kr. Singh, Asst. Directors (Admn)