Lottery held for 111 Telangana Housing Board LIG flats in Gachibowli

The lottery for the allotment of 111 Telangana Housing Board (THB) flats in Gachibowli for Lower Income Groups (LIG) was held on Tuesday (January 6, 2025) after a prolonged delay. The flats are located in three prime real estate localities in Hyderabad.

A total of 2,685 applications were received. Although the lottery was scheduled to begin in the morning, it commenced only in the late afternoon. Officials said that detailed scrutiny to weed out ineligible applications took time, leading to the delay.

After scrutiny, 1,325 applicants were found eligible. Among the three locations, the highest number of applications — 1,219 — was received for the 40 flats near AIG Hospitals, of which 581 applicants were found eligible.

Details of eligible applicants were either displayed or read out
| Photo Credit:
BY ARRANGEMENT

Lottery process

Before holding the lottery, the Board’s staff either displayed the applicants name and their ‘lot’ number on a board or read them out. Two lottery boxes were arranged – one with slips having details of applicants and the other with the flat numbers. The lottery was held in the presence of a few applicants in the hall and the process was streamed live on YouTube. The details of the applicants selected in the lucky draw and the flat number were displayed. 

The lottery boxes- one with slips having details of applicants and the other with flat numbers
| Photo Credit:
BY ARRANGEMENT

Delay flares tempers at lottery venue

Earlier on Monday, the Board had appealed to the people not to visit Nirman Kendra — the lottery venue — in Gachibowli and had urged them to watch the process online. However, several people turned up. Few applicants who waited at the venue on Tuesday said that they did not receive any message over their mobile phones about the appeal or information about the live streaming. “I read their Instagram post. But not everyone check it, do they?” said one of the applicants at the venue. Other said they got the message after reaching the Nirman Kendra.

Applicant selected in lottery and flat number were displayed
| Photo Credit:
BY ARRANGEMENT

Explanation sought

Despite delay, several senior citizens, women with toddlers and others stayed put at the venue. Though they were asked to return after lunch, many chose to sit there sipping tea and eating snacks. As the process did not begin till mid-afternoon, tempers flared. They huddled and questioned authorities about the reason for the delay and demanded explanation on the lottery process. To ensure transparency, the staff explained about the process and even invited a few applicants inside the hall when the lottery was held. However, several people commented on YouTube demanding to know the reasons for rejecting their applications.