State urban development department headquarters at New Secretariat in Patna. It will soon be revamped at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Nov. 27: Malti Devi, a slum dweller at Dujara, was promised a home around a-year-and-a-half ago by the state urban development department but the promise is still on paper. On the other hand, the officials of the department will soon have a swanky office.

The state urban development department has decided to revamp its headquarters at the New Secretariat. Around Rs 2.5 crore will be spent on the renovation. The project could start as early as December and would be completed within six months.

Shashi Shekhar Sharma, principal secretary, urban development department, said: “We have already made the plan for the proposed renovation and refurbishment work of our offices. An agreement in this regard has also been made with the building construction department. Funds worth Rs 2.5 crore have also been approved for this work.”

Sharma added that the project would be completed within six months.

While the department officials are confident enough about the project to deck up their office, they have been unable to deliver the facilities promised under Basic Services for Urban Poor scheme. The urban development department is the nodal agency for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a sub-mission of which is Basic Services for Urban Poor. Under the scheme, residential houses for slum dwellers were supposed to be developed at 60 locations in the state capital.

The project has been completed in two places, while work is on at two more. But no work has been done at 56 sites.

“The government is not at all serious about the well-being of poor people like me. All they care about is their own comfort,” said Malti.

Unfortunately, there is no good news in store for her. Housing and Urban Development Corporation — the implementing agency for Basic Services for Urban Poor scheme — has recently returned the project, citing large number of impediments in the execution.

Asked about the delay in the scheme, state urban development minister Prem Kumar said: “The reason for the laggard in implementation of BSUP scheme is the attitude of the central government. We are not able to construct the dwellings because the Centre is not giving us sufficient funds to acquire the respective land. I had raised this issue during a national-level meeting of JNNURM around two months ago.”