Slum Rehabilitation Dispute? RTI to the SRA / Housing Board

Part of Pillar 2 — RTI for Community & Society. See also PMAY installment RTI.

• Eligibility denied despite pre-cut-off residence.
• Tenement allotment deferred / changed post-survey.
• Cut-off date applied incorrectly.
• Biometric / Aadhaar mismatch blocks allotment.
• Eviction notice served without R&R alternative.
• Rent for transit accommodation not received during redevelopment.
• Developer defaults — work stalled mid-redevelopment.

• Eligibility decision without written grounds.
• Allotment letter pending >6 months after survey.
• Transit-rent stopped / never paid.
• Developer name changed without R&R amendment.

• Biometric / door-to-door survey record covering your household.
• Cut-off date for the scheme and notification.
• Eligibility roster for your slum, with household reference (anonymised).
• Tenement allotment log (carpet area, floor, building).
• Developer / contractor agreement.
• Transit-rent schedule and disbursement history.
• R&R entitlement document.
• Grievance-log entries and action-taken.

• Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) / State Housing Board — city-level custodian.
• Municipal Corporation — for slum register / census.
• Department of Urban Development (state) — for policy / redevelopment approvals.
• MoHUA — for central convergence (JNNURM / PMAY).
• Rs. 10 fee; BPL free.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
[Slum Rehabilitation Authority / Housing Board / Municipal Corporation],
[Address]

Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, regarding slum rehabilitation.

Sir/Madam,

I, [Name], resident of [House Number / Hut Number, Slum / Basti, Ward, City], submit:

Slum / Basti Name: ________
Scheme / Project Reference: ________
Cut-off date claimed: ________
Developer (if redevelopment): ________
Household reference (survey ID, if any): ________

Please provide:

1. Certified copy of the door-to-door / biometric survey record covering my household.
2. Cut-off-date notification applicable to my slum and its approving authority.
3. Eligibility roster for my slum in anonymised format with household serial numbers.
4. Tenement-allotment log — carpet area, floor, building, and disbursement stage.
5. Developer / contractor agreement with project timeline.
6. Transit-rent schedule and my household's disbursement history.
7. R&R entitlement document applicable to my household.
8. Action-taken on grievance reference __________ raised by me.
9. If eligibility was denied, the written ground and approving officer's name.
10. First Appellate Authority contact.

I enclose Indian Postal Order No. __________ for Rs. 10.
I declare I am an Indian citizen.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature, Date, Place]

1. Survey record.
2. Cut-off notification.
3. Eligibility roster.
4. Tenement allotment log.
5. Developer agreement.
6. Transit-rent disbursement.
7. R&R entitlement.
8. Grievance action-taken.
9. Eligibility denial ground.
10. FAA contact.

• Day 0–10 RTI routed.
• Day 10–25 SRA / housing board pulls survey + allotment records.
• Day 30 Reply mandatory.
• Day 30+ First Appeal + petition to the High Court / NCSC / NHRC where applicable.

• Asking for named allotment list — third-party under §8(1)(j); use anonymised roster.
• Ignoring the cut-off-date notification — eligibility pivots on it.
• Filing to the municipality when the SRA is the custodian.
• Missing transit-rent records — they reveal developer compliance.

• Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) 3 SCC 545 — right to livelihood as part of Article 21; eviction requires due process.
• Chameli Singh v. State of UP (1996) 2 SCC 549 — shelter as part of the right to life.
• Sudama Singh v. Government of Delhi (Delhi HC, 2010) — rehabilitation mandatory before eviction.

• File before demolition — evidence degrades after eviction.
• Photograph of the hut + utility bill with date strengthens pre-cut-off residence claim.
• Parallel NHRC / SCPCR complaint if vulnerable family.
• For SRA projects with defaulting developers, ask for show-cause and re-tender records.

Q1. Can the SRA refuse survey records citing privacy?
The roster can be anonymised, but methodology and coverage are public.

Q2. What's the norm for transit rent?
State-specific (Rs. 20,000/month in Mumbai SRA, up to Rs. 15,000 in Delhi DUSIB) — RTI extracts the schedule.

Q3. Can I challenge an eligibility-denial via RTI?
RTI surfaces the record; the challenge is via the Slum Tribunal / High Court — but on the RTI-extracted paper.

Q4. Is there a time limit for tenement handover?
State policies vary; many stipulate 36-48 months from start-of-work.

Slum rehabilitation is the most sensitive urban public work — livelihoods are on the line. RTI makes the roster, entitlement, and developer-compliance record visible, and anchors every downstream legal remedy.

• RTI for PMAY installment
• RTI for Smart City Mission
• Pillar 2 — Community
• PIO framework — land & housing

• Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971 (and SRA Act)
• DUSIB Act, 2010; other state housing-board Acts
• Olga Tellis v. BMC, (1985) 3 SCC 545
• Sudama Singh v. Govt. of Delhi, W.P.(C) 8904/2009 (Delhi HC)

Last reviewed: 21 April 2026.