Pre-poll move Surveys being conducted in jhuggi jhopri clusters across city to identify beneficiaries.

More than five years after around 14,000 houses meant for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society were built and still remain unused, the Delhi government has fast-tracked housing allocations. With the Assembly elections around the corner, the government hopes to allocate at least 7,000 EWS houses by the end of June and complete the remaining before September.

In 2008, the Delhi government completed the construction of around 14,000 flats that were to be allotted to people belonging to the economically weaker sections.

Five years later, the flats are empty and have fallen into disrepair. No allotment has been made till now, though government received thousands of applications over the years. The reason: The government is still working on the definition of EWS and, therefore, cannot decide who qualifies for the category. And for the few who did fit the category, the allocation got tangled in red tape.