For mill workers in Kon, Panvel, the price for 2,417 houses has been set at INR 6 lakh. But now for the same INR 6 lakh house, the Mumbai Board of MHADA is charging INR 55,680 per annum as INR 4,640 per month from the winning mill workers. The huge maintenance charges for a 320 square feet house in Panvel have sparked outrage among mill workers. Against this backdrop, the winning mill workers and their unions have now demanded waiver of maintenance charges.
In 2016, the Mumbai Board conducted a lottery for 2,417 houses in the MMRDA rental housing project. The selling price for these houses was fixed at INR 6 lakh. However, due to various reasons, the Mumbai Board started giving houses to the eligible winning mill workers after eight years.
The winners were happy as they would get possession of the house after eight years, but the winners were charged an annual maintenance fee of INR 42,135 for 2024-25. Due to the maintenance charges, the winning workers were disappointed.
This exorbitant maintenance fee was opposed as it put the workers in financial trouble. The mill workers unions expressed displeasure over this. Taking cognizance of this displeasure, the Mumbai Board gave relief to approximately 900 winning workers who had paid the sale price of the house to MHADA between 2018 and 2022 by waiving the maintenance charges. But now the board has levied an annual maintenance fee of INR 55,680 on the winning workers who will take possession of the houses in 2025.
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The Mumbai Board has charged a monthly maintenance fee of INR 4,640 for a 320 sq ft house worth INR 6 lakh outside Mumbai. Therefore, the question is raised on the policy of maintenance fee fixation of the board itself. Even for MHADA's houses in Mumbai, the board does not charge such a hefty maintenance fee.
According to the decision of the Mumbai Board, the maintenance fee for the house in Kon has been levied at INR 55,680 for 2025-26, Rs 61,260 for 2026-27 and INR 68,380 for 2027-28. The Mill Workers Unity Committee has expressed its displeasure over this alleging that this levy is a cruel treatment of the mill workers. The workers have demanded that maintenance charges be waived till 2027. It is important to see what stand Mumbai Mandal takes on this now. Meanwhile, an attempt was made to contact Milind Borikar, Chief Officer of the Mumbai Board, but could not be contacted.
Raigad District Collector took these houses in Kon for isolation during Corona period and returned them to MMRDA after making adequate repairs to the houses. Considering the condition of the houses, it was necessary to repair them and distribute them.
However, a dispute arose between MHADA and MMRDA over the cost of this repair. Finally the state government intervened and decided that MHADA should repair the house and MMRDA should bear the repair cost. According to this decision, the possession of the houses started to be given to the winners from 2024 after making amendments. But the Girni Kamgar Ekta Samiti has raised the question whether the board is recovering the cost of repairs from the poor workers by charging huge maintenance charges instead of MMRDA.
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