How many of you have heard about Nehru's massively failed pre-fabricated housing scheme?

Something darbaris don't want you to talk about.

The story starts in 1953. Nehru, in his socialist high, wanted the state to build low cost pre fabricated houses. Great on paper !

So Nehru establishes a (what else) Public State company - Hindustan Prefab limited. Which was expected to manufacture Prefab houses on a mass scale. Remember he was influenced by USSR's state capacity dreams.

Great! But who will design it? And here steps in a famous architect from Germany - Otto Koenigsberger. He had fled Nazi Germany and sought refuge in India. He became the chief architect of Maharaja of Mysore.

As Maharaja's chief architect he had designed among other things the first public swimming pool, Krishna Rao Pavilion and Bangalore bus terminal

The prefab house idea was sold with a lot of fan fare... But it failed miserably. The Nehruvian babudom kept haggling on place for factory, then hiring people. The materials given were substandard.

Otto Koenigsberger was made the scapegoat. Nehru's minister Amrit rajkumari who was incharge of it - immediately dismissed him when it became a parliamentary issue

They put the entire responsibility on Koenigsberger. Never mind that Nehru used to immense pride in it earlier. He even took Edwina for a visit there.

Koenigsberger retired hurt. He went back to Europe, while still remaining an Indian citizen. His legacy still survives in Bhubaneswar - one of the first planned cities in India which was designed by him.