E-Paper
No registries sans verification of colonies’ status, says Punjab government
To clearly define where NOCs are not required for registration of documents related to sale deed or transfer of ownership rights
To streamline work and check property-related frauds, Punjab government led by chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday issued clear instructions to sub-registrars regarding the registration of plots in illegal and unauthorised housing colonies.
The government has asked the housing and urban development and local bodies departments to publish lists of licensed and authorised colonies and housing schemes along with area details, khasra numbers and approved layout plan so that the area is clearly defined where no-objection certificates (NOCs) are not required for registration of documents related to sale deed or transfer of ownership rights.
These lists will be readily available with all sub-registrars and they will register the sale deeds only after verifying the status of the colonies as per the instructions issued by the revenue department.
The development comes a few days after the CM launched an online portal “https://grcs.punjab.gov.in” wherein citizens can register their grievances related to possession of plots.
“This online portal would provide property possession related services and help in expediting the property possession processes,” said a government spokesperson.
He added that earlier, there were no clear instructions from the government which led to mushrooming of illegal colonies on the outskirts of the cities. As per information, there are over 15,000 colonies that have come up in the last five years.
Last month, the government suspended two revenue officers of the level of tehsildar for registering ownership deeds of properties falling in unauthorised housing colonies, subsequent to which the revenue staff across the state including district revenue officers, tehsildars and naib-tehsildars proceeded on mass casual as a mark of protest.
They were seeking clarity on the system of procuring NoCs before registration of a property, which according to them was not clear. In a dialogue with the revenue staff association, government assured to bring out clarity on the system of NoCs.
“The residents of Punjab have been facing difficulties to get possession of properties in these illegal and unauthorised colonies where either the allotment letter is issued by the developers concerned, colonisers and authorities or deeds were registered, but they were unable to get the possession of the property due to one or other reasons,” said the government spokesperson.
According to Punjab revenue minister Bram Shanker Jimpa, these illegal colonies are not only resulting in haphazard urbanisation in the state, but also causing hardships to the common man, adding that people spend their life savings on purchase of plots and they do not even get possession in these illegal colonies as the colonisers even sell ‘rastas’ or paths in these colonies. These colonies also lack basic amenities like water supply, sewerage, electricity etc, he added.
“Now, the government under the leadership of CM Bhagwant Mann has decided to take this menace head on and in this regard, these two major decisions have been taken,” the minister added.
Additional chief secretary-cum-financial commissioner revenue Anurag Agarwal informed that a dedicated cell has been created to analyse the applications received on the portal and to process the applications as per the requirements. The status of each application will be updated on the portal and citizens can also track applications on the portal to know the status, he added.
