The government has come up with a quota for allotment of plots and flats in New Town.

Housing minister Goutam Deb, also chairman of Hidco, the implementing agency of the Rajarhat township, will administer the quota, comprising five per cent of the plots and apartments (built by the government or in joint venture with private partners).

Hidco has specified 12 categories (see chart) from various fields for availing of the quota. Sources said the government has formulated the policy to avoid the embarrassment it has been facing, including strictures from court, over distribution of plots in Salt Lake under the chief minister?s quota.

?Applications for plots or flats under the chairman?s quota will be invited through advertisements published in leading newspapers,? said a Hidco official. ?The applications will be scrutinised to ensure that the aspirants fall under the specified categories.?

?We want to make the entire process of allotment under the quota transparent,? minister Deb told Metro on Tuesday. ?There is no question of allotting a plot or a flat secretly. We have formulated the system in such a way that no one can allege a bias. A valid applicant will get a plot or a flat, subject to availability.?

Hidco officials admitted that any quota system amounts to granting a privilege to a select few, but argued that a housing estate or a township must have provisions for those who fail to get a plot or flat through lottery.

?It is expected that people from all walks of life will live in a housing estate or township. Will New Town be without a doctor if no one from the profession gets a plot through lottery? It will ultimately benefit the residents if professionals like doctors, teachers, and advocates get to live in the township,? the official reasoned.