Centre’s plan largely based on our suggestions: Kejriwal on Cabinet’s ownership rights move

The chief minister appreciated the Centre’s move by calling it a “concrete step” towards benefitting 4 million people residing in unauthorised colonies as at present they cannot apply for loans to buy houses in these areas.

Around an hour after the Centre on Wednesday gave its nod to give ownership rights to residents of the 1,728 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government will keep “nominal rates” for the stamp duty once registration of such properties begins. The chief minister also emphasised that the Centre’s proposal was “largely based on the Delhi government’s suggestions for regularisation submitted in November 2015.

Addressing a press conference after the Union cabinet’s decision was announced , Kejriwal urged the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to quickly finish delineation of the unauthorised colonies so that the Delhi government could start registration of properties in these areas by setting up camps. As per the plan approved by the Centre, the DDA will now conduct mapping of these colonies.

“I welcome the Centre’s decision because it was a long pending demand of the people of Delhi. The Delhi government had sent its proposal on this to the Centre in November 2015. Today, what the centre has approved is largely based on our proposal,” Kejriwal said.

He stated that the Delhi government, in addition, had sent 12 suggestions to the Centre’s proposal on July 24 this year. “It is yet to be ascertained how many of our suggestions have been accepted by the Centre in its Wednesday’s cabinet decision. We haven’t received any official document of the approved policy yet. So far we know that our suggestion of including the so-called posh colonies in the scheme has not been accepted,” Kejriwal said.

As per the Centre’s approved plan, ownership rights will be given to households in unauthorised colonies irrespective of whether the houses were built on private or government land. The only exception will “69 affluent colonies”, which include upscale neighbourhoods such as Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Dairy.

“In our suggestion sent in July, we had said that mapping should be conducted by GSDL (Geospatial Delhi Limited) to speed up the process. But, the DDA will do this work now. I hope this does not delay the process. If they had taken our GSDL data, we could have begun with the registry right away and before the elections in Delhi, all 40 lakh beneficiaries would have got ownership rights,” Kejriwal said.

Senior officials in the Delhi government and the DDA said one recommendation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government which has been accepted is on settlements developed around the land belonging to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), forest department and so on. “Homes built on ASI land and forest area will not be included, but settlements established nearby will be given ownership rights,” a DDA official said.

As per officials, other suggestions of the Delhi government that were not accepted include changing the cut-off date from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2019, using their satellite maps for preliminary delineation of the colonies and not calculating the circle rate to determine the cost of land on the basis of the most upmarket colony in the neighbourhood.

The chief minister appreciated the Centre’s move by calling it a “concrete step” towards benefitting 4 million people residing in unauthorised colonies as at present they cannot apply for loans to buy houses in these areas and also cannot sell houses with strong legal documents such as registration certificate.

“In the past, parties ruling at the Centre and in Delhi promised that the unauthorised colonies in Delhi will be regularised but they used it as an election promise only and did not fulfill their commitment. Today, the proposal has got a cabinet nod and then a Bill will be passed in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. So, this time, it is a concrete step,” Kejriwal said.

Explaining the impact of the decision, the chief minister said people will get actual benefits once register their properties. “The Delhi government is ready to undertake the registration process from the next day of the Centre notifying the grant of ownership rights. The stamp duty on the registry will be nominal. Once the Centre’s notification is out, we are confident of completing registries of all properties within a month,” Kejriwal said.

The chief minister said in the last four years, the AAP government has invested Rs 6,000 crore in development works at unauthorised colonies without waiting for their regularisation.