There’s good news for retired government officials, as Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning to develop an old-age home in Sector 16, Dwarka.
The plan has been finalised by DDA and a proposal will be tabled in its September meeting for approval. The project is a joint venture between DDA and the Indian Navy.
The model conceptualised by DDA will provide accommodation to the elderly on a rental rather than on an ownership basis. It will provide opportunities for the elderly to live with people they have gotten to know during their professional lives.
Approximately 12 acres of land has been identified in Sector 16 for the project. It will house 1,550 studio apartments, each about 550 sq ft. Ten per cent of the area will be let out for related commercial facilities. The project is expected to be completed within four years. The cost of building the apartments is estimated to be Rs 282 crore, with each unit costing about Rs 18.23 lakh.
Ownership of the land will remain with DDA, and approximately 200 studio apartments will be provided to the Indian Navy. The remaining units will be available for retired central and state government employees, the armed forces, the teaching faculty in government universities and colleges, and DDA employees of a certain pay scale. The exact quota for each category is to be decided later. Maintenance of the entire complex — including security, civil and electrical works, and medical facilities — would be outsourced to service providers.
The proposed complex will have Metro connectivity and be completely self-contained, with retail, recreational and healthcare facilities. It will also have its own nursing and ambulance services. The architecture and other features will be elderly-friendly.
Dwelling units will be allotted with lifelong tenancy rights. If the allottee dies, the spouse can use the unit during his or her lifetime. However, the allottee will not be allowed to transfer or sell the unit to anyone else, and the ownership will always rest with DDA. After the death of the allottee — and if the surviving spouse is unwilling to use the apartment — DDA will re-allot the unit to the next person on the waiting list.
Each allottee will pay Rs 2.2 lakh. Rs 20,000 will be a one-time non-refundable registration fee, and the rest of the amount will be adjusted at the time of allotment against the total premium. At the time of allotment, Rs 8 lakh will be charged as a one-time premium.
A monthly maintenance sum of Rs 10,000 will be charged for each unit — of which Rs 3,000 will be paid to the outsourcing agency and the rest to DDA to partially recover the cost of construction. If an allottee withdraws his/her membership and wishes to surrender the unit, Rs 1 lakh will be deducted annually from the one-time premium based on the number of years the unit was occupied.
Since the average life span of allottees is expected to be 80 years, DDA will be in a position to re-allot the units after approximately 20 years on an average.
