Maharashtra: 'No Builder Can Deny Homes To Marathi People,' Says Minister Shambhuraj Desai; Policy On Housing Rights Coming Soon

Mumbai: Maharashtra belongs to the Marathi-speaking people, and their rights will not be compromised, assured Minister Shambhuraj Desai while declaring that a policy would soon be introduced to ensure priority housing access for Marathi speaking individuals in new residential buildings.

“No developer will be allowed to deny homes to Marathi people in Mumbai. If any builder or person discriminates against a Marathi home-buyer, strict action will be taken against them. Discussions will be held with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar to finalize the policy,” Desai said in the state legislative council.

Earlier Uddhav Thackeray Sena Legislator Anil Parab had demanded a 50% reservation of houses in real estate projects for Marathi speaking people. He had also demanded that along with construction of large houses flats of upto 500 sqft should be made available for Marathi speaking people so they could afford them.

Desai was responding to a question raised during Question Hour by MLC Milind Narvekar regarding reservation for Marathi-speaking residents in new housing developments in Mumbai.

Several other members, including Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve and MLCs Dnyaneshwar Mhatre, Rajesh Rathod, Prasad Lad, Adv. Anil Parab, Sachin Ahir, and Hemant Patil, raised supplementary questions.

Desai noted that various state housing schemes already provide reservations for specific communities and groups, such as SC, ST, NT, DT, ex-servicemen, artists, state and central government employees, the visually impaired, and persons with disabilities. He assured the House that if any construction firm is found to be discriminating against Marathi-speaking citizens during home sales, the state government will take stringent action.

Real estate stakeholders expressed concern saying such reservation would render their business unviable. A developer who did not wish to be named explained that it was a business and whoever has money can buy houses and that flats are sold irrespective of language the buyer speaks at home. Would Marathi speaking developers, for instance, reserve 50% houses for one particular linguistic group? Another stakeholder said such conditions should first be made applicable to government housing authorities like CIDCO, MHADA.

All stakeholders largely felt that instead of reservation of houses for Marathi speaking people, the effort should be to reduce premium payments made by developers for carrying out housing projects. This would make housing affordable.

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