Delhi CM Rekha Gupta’s Bold Plan: 50,000 Flats for Slum Dwellers

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta unveiled a transformative plan to relocate residents of the capital’s 675 slum clusters to 50,000 long-vacant flats, originally built under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) around 2011. Inspecting dilapidated flats in Sultanpuri, North West Delhi, on Saturday, Gupta announced that these units, left unallocated by previous Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments, will be renovated and equipped with essential amenities to provide dignified housing for slum dwellers within a 2-km radius of their current settlements.

“We have planned to relocate slum dwellers after properly repairing these flats and providing all facilities,” Gupta told reporters, emphasizing her government’s commitment to ensuring no family is left homeless. She criticized past administrations for neglecting the flats, rendering them uninhabitable, and vowed that her government would either repair them or build new ones if necessary. “Neither Congress nor AAP gave these flats to the poor. Our government will ensure they are allotted after repair,” she said, adding that a ₹732-crore fund, previously unutilized under JNNURM, has been repurposed for the project under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

Gupta’s announcement follows her Friday directive to halt all slum demolitions unless alternative housing is provided first, a response to recent eviction notices, such as those in R.K. Puram and Shalimar Bagh’s “Faatak wali jhuggi,” where railway expansion projects had threatened displacements. She has instructed agencies like the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Railways, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to comply, warning of legal action to protect slum dwellers’ rights if needed. “No slum will be demolished without rehabilitation. We’ll amend policies or approach courts to ensure justice,” she asserted, positioning her government as the first to pair evictions with immediate housing solutions.

Also Read: Delhi Govt Gifts Laptops, ICT Labs to Students

Delhi’s 675 slum clusters, home to approximately 3.06 lakh families across 804.5 hectares, are a critical urban challenge, with 50% on DDA land, 23% on PSU or private land, and 22% under MCD or Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). Gupta’s plan, backed by a ₹700-crore budget, also includes skill training, employment opportunities, and infrastructure upgrades like roads, water pipelines, and sanitation facilities to integrate slum residents as “true Delhiites.” During a cleanliness campaign launch, “Dilli Ko Koode Se Azadi,” she also proposed a new integrated Secretariat to streamline governance, reflecting her broader vision for Delhi’s transformation.

The initiative has sparked mixed reactions. Residents like Sunita Devi, a Sultanpuri slum dweller, expressed hope: “A proper home would change our lives, but we need water and electricity too.” However, AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of making empty promises, demanding that DDA and Railways withdraw pending court cases against slum clusters. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, visiting Ashok Vihar’s demolished slums, called the BJP’s actions “insensitive,” alleging they treat the poor as a vote bank. Gupta countered, accusing AAP and Congress of neglecting slums for decades, leaving them without basic amenities like drainage or clean water.

Skeptics question the plan’s feasibility, citing Delhi’s infrastructure strain and past delays in similar projects. A 2020 Supreme Court order to clear 48,000 slum dwellings along railway tracks had led to similar BJP-AAP disputes, with unallocated flats remaining a contentious issue. Yet, Gupta’s commitment to in-situ rehabilitation and her critique of vote-bank politics signal a shift toward addressing systemic urban poverty. As departments like DUSIB and DSIIDC mobilize to execute the plan, Delhi watches closely to see if the promise of 50,000 homes will deliver lasting change or remain another political pledge.

Also Read: Delhi CM Exposes Welfare Fraud, Orders Overhaul of Pension Schemes