MHADA Should build 5 Lac Houses

If someone really wants to beat the recession and give a stimulus to the economy, it could be our very own government housing agency MHADA.

Recently MHADA announced sale of around 4000 houses and believe it or not more than 5,00,000 people applied to own a house at government advertised discounted rates.

It is common knowledge that MHADA builds very poor quality houses, nevertheless the response has been overwhelming.

If MHADA was to convert every application that it received in to a firm allotment, the economy of the country would receive a big boost.

Let us get the maths straight;

Flats on Offer : 3863

Average Sale Price : Between 20,00,000 to 30,00,000 (2 to 3 Million Rupees or 20 to 30 Lacs)

Taking a median price of 25,00,000 ( 2.5 Million or 25 Lacs)

Forms Sold : 5,00,000 (5 Million)

Money Collected from sale of Forms 5 Million x 100 (500 Million or 5 Crores)

If MHADA was to make a firm allotment to every person that has applied;

Total Sale Realization 5 Million x 2.5 Million = 1250000 Million Rupees ( 12.5 Billion Rupees or 1,25,000 Crores)

Considering a profit margin of just 20% for the government, it would translate to 25,000 Crores for the government.

All the babus can make their cut from the developers, the Babus get stimulated.

The politicians can fill their pockets by awarding contracts to their cronies, the politicians get stimulated.

Poor mumbaikar can have a house to call his own. They get stimulated.

The steel companies can churn more steel from their factories, the cement companies can spew more cement and thus everybody in the value chain gets stimulated!

Banks can lend money to these flat buyers because for one thing they are indirectly giving the money to the government, land title will be clear, flats will be built on time and chances of getting cheated are limited. Banks get stimulated!

Any takers for the scheme?

Slumdog Millionaire and Why Amitabh choose to slam the movie

When Slumdog Millionaire became a hit with world audiences, film folks back home choose to applaud the film that showcases the dirty underbelly of Bombay City.

Some leading lights choose to differ. Amongst them were Amithabh Bacchan and Aamir Khan.

Why did they choose to play down the film which had got critical and mass acclaim all over the world?

Perhaps it could be to do with the fact that they have individually contributed almost nothing to the development of the city? It could also be that they never ever knew that such an underbelly existed?

But it would be naive to think that these were the real reasons.

I think it was their conscience that prompted them to issue these statements. They know in their heart of heart that they have only taken from the city and choose to look the other way when the problems depicted in the movie came face to face with them in their day to day life.

I am sure Amitabh and Aamir have seen beggars on the roads, driven through the shanties that are home to more than 60% (90 Million of the 150 Million) population of the city. They know how people live in sub-human conditions in these shanties but have always thought of it, like almost all of us, as a problem for the government to tackle.

They forgot that it is people from these shanties that make or break their movies every friday at the box office. They also forgot that they have the power to make a difference, a power that they have chosen not to use.

Therefore when someone showed them the ugly face of the city, they cringed at the site and choose to slam the movie rather than come out and say, Hey, I am ashamed that all this is happening in my city and I take full personal responsibility to move the mountain, to change all that is depicted in the movie and strive to make the city a better place to live.

Had they done that, they would have become bigger darlings of the masses.