Muslim woman allotted flat under CM scheme in Vadodara, residents protest

When a 44-year-old Muslim woman who is employed with an arm of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development was allotted a dwelling unit in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) low-income group housing complex at Harni under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana in 2017, she was overjoyed at the prospect of moving with her then-minor son into an inclusive neighbourhood. However, even before she could move in, 33 residents of the housing complex comprising 462 units sent a written complaint to the District Collector and other authorities, objecting to a ‘Muslim’ moving in, citing possible “threat and nuisance” due to her presence. She is the only Muslim allottee in the complex, say officials.

Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Dilip Rana was unavailable for a comment. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Arpit Sagar and Executive Engineer for Affordable Housing Nileshkumar Parmar refused to comment on the issue.

The 44-year-old mother says the protests first began in 2020 when the residents wrote to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), seeking her house allotment to be invalidated. However, the Harni police station then recorded statements of all the parties concerned and closed the complaint. The recent protest against the same issue took place on June 10.

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“I have grown up in a mixed neighbourhood in Vadodara and my family never believed in the concept of ghettos… I always wanted my son to grow up in an inclusive neighbourhood but my dreams have been shattered as it has been almost six years and there is no solution to the opposition I am facing. My son is now in Class 12 and old enough to understand what is going on. The discrimination will affect him mentally…,” she told The Indian Express.

Calling it a “representation in public interest”, 33 signatories in the ‘complaint’ submitted to the District Collector, Mayor, VMC Commissioner as well as the Commissioner of Police in Vadodara have demanded that the dwelling unit allotted to the beneficiary be “invalidated” and the beneficiary be “shifted to another housing scheme”.

The memorandum by the Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Services Society Limited, states: “The VMC has allotted the house number K204 to one minority beneficiary in March 2019… We believe that Harni area is a Hindu-dominated peaceful area and there is no settlement of Muslims in the periphery of about four kilometres… It is like setting fire to the peaceful life of 461 families…”

Residents of the colony cite “imminent law-and-order crisis” if Muslim families are allowed to move in. One of the signatories said: “It is the fault of the VMC that they have not cross-checked the credentials of the allottee…It is the general consensus that all of us have booked homes in this colony because it is a Hindu neighbourhood and we would not like persons from other religious and cultural backgrounds to live in our colony. It is for the comfort of both parties…”

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An immediate neighbour of the beneficiary added that although several families in the housing colony were also non-vegetarians, the idea of a different religious identity had sparked concern among residents. The resident, who did not wish to be identified, said: “We do not feel comfortable with a minority family being our next-door neighbours… It is not just about the eating preferences but the milieu…”

The woman currently lives with her parents and son in another area of Vadodara. “I do not wish to sell off my hard-earned property just because of this opposition. I will wait… I have repeatedly tried to seek time with the managing committee of the colony but they do not respond. Just two days before they went public with their latest opposition, they called me asking for the maintenance dues. I said I am willing to pay the same if they provide me with the share certificate as a resident that they have not handed over to me. The VMC had already collected Rs 50,000 as a one-time maintenance charge from all residents, which I have already paid. I am not sure if I can take legal recourse at the moment because the government has not denied me the right to live in the housing colony.”

Another resident of the colony, however, expressed solidarity with the beneficiary. “It is unfair because she is a beneficiary of a government scheme and has been allotted the flat as per the legal provisions… The concerns of the residents could be valid but we are judging people without even interacting with them.”

Officials of the VMC’s housing department told this newspaper that since government schemes did not segregate applicants and beneficiaries on the basis of religion, the housing draw was conducted as per the norms. “It is a matter that must be resolved by both parties or by approaching competent courts,” said an official.