CHB leases out its old office to ED at ₹35 lakh a month
As per officials familiar with matter, the building was to be rented out to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was not ready to pay the security amount
After suffering a revenue loss of nearly ₹8 lakh, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has leased out its old building (Block A) to the Directorate of Enforcement, Chandigarh Zonal office, at the cost of ₹35 lakh per month for a period of five years. The building, with an area of 16,134 square feet, is located at a prime location in Sector 9.
In September 2022, the CHB had decided to lease out its old building on rent to both public and private sectors at the cost of ₹203 per square yard. However, the board authorities could not take a decision on this. It was later decided that the board would charge ₹33 lakh and GST earnings every month.
As per officials familiar with matter, the building was to be rented out to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was not ready to pay the security amount. The board officers did not take any decision, resulting in a huge financial loss. However, now, the board has leased out the building without the security amount.
Blocks A and C of the building were constructed in 1977 on around 20,000 square feet of land and comprised 52 rooms and a basement for parking. The staff has been shifted to Block B, with the new building having been inaugurated on March 27, 2022.
Block B has seven floors. The five-star-rated green building has a number of features incorporated into its design to reduce the office’s carbon footprint.
The board, a UT administration undertaking, was established in 1976 by extending the Haryana Housing Board Act, 1971. It provides reasonably-priced housing. Till March 2019, the board had constructed a total of 67,565 houses across various categories.The CHB is proving to be City Beautiful proverbial white elephant, eating into taxpayer’s resources mostly to pay its 400 odd employees with no tangible output to show for.
The board has had no major venture in the works and no complete project to show for in the past seven years. It has also not convened its board meeting for the past nine months. Last year, it met only twice — in February and May.
It is in the backdrop of this apparent lack of activity that the CHB employees continue to draw a salary totalling ₹3.5 crore per month. Besides, around 100 new employees have been added.
Monthly income from all collective sources, however, hovers around the ₹1 crore mark as the sale of residential and commercial properties, the major earner for the board, has fallen flat in recent years.