The post of Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Housing Board has been vacant for over nine months and activists and housing sector representatives demand that the State government appoint a full-time official soon.
The government is yet to appoint a senior bureaucrat for the post which fell vacant after the retirement of K. Sellamuthu in September 2014.
Activists point out that presently, the managing director of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board is also in charge of TNHB which makes it difficult for a single official to handle two crucial government departments at the same time.
M. Mohan, a builder, said the TNHB is currently engaged in constructing close to 2,000 flats in Chennai and its suburbs alone. TNSCB, on the other hand, has been entrusted with the responsibility of constructing a few thousand multi-storey tenements; in addition to re-development of old slum board flats in the city.
“It is difficult for a bureaucrat to look after administrative work as well as construction work in one agency. Supervising another department is a huge task and it will affect the functioning of both,” Mr. Mohan, a member of Builders Association of India’s Southern Centre, Chennai said.
G. Selva of Communist Party of India (Marxist), said occupants of TNHB flats have submitted grievances on allotment and agreement orders issued by the Board, change of titles and other issues. “These grievances are submitted to the Chairman, a political appointee, but these files can be signed and processed by the department’s staff only after it is cleared by senior officials,” Mr. Selva pointed out.
Builders allege there are other key posts lying vacant in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including Vice-Chairman in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, that need to be urgently filled up without delay to ensure the smooth functioning of the projects in the city. Sources in the Department said a meeting was held a fortnight ago to discuss crucial issues, including filling up of key posts.
