E-Paper
Lok Sabha clears bill to legalise Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The Lok Sabha on Thursday cleared a bill to grant ownership rights to four million residents of 1,731 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, a move that may see political ramifications in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.
The bill, passed by a voice vote, is expected to move to the Rajya Sabha sometime next week. A few amendments moved by some opposition members were not accepted in the House.
Piloting the bill in the Lower House, union urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the mapping of these colonies would be completed in this financial year.
Puri also informed that the government would separately look into the issues of 65 affluent unauthorised colonies in Delhi at a later stage. These include Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Dairy.
“Had we taken up the issue of affluent colonies, you would have termed us as ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’,” the minister said on a lighter note to the Opposition parties. The debate saw heated moments between the BJP and AAP MPs in the House as the former tried to accuse Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of spreading fake news.
The Centre will now issue a gazette notification on the matter. Under the scheme, people seeking to regularise their properties will need to pay charges based on the following formula: 0.5% of the circle rate if carpet area is less than 100 square metre; 1% for area between 100-250 sq.m; and 2.5% if the carpet area is above 250 square metre.
The circle rate applicable will be the same as the colony that has the highest rate in the neighbourhood. For colonies on private land, the charge will be half of the charge on government land.
Last week, Puri had said the application process for property ownership and transfer rights for those in unauthorised colonies will be rolled out from December 16. A web portal will be launched to facilitate the process, he had said.
In the web portal, residents of the 1,731 colonies will be able to submit an application along with partial payment, after which Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will inspect the site and issue a conveyance deed, followed by registry.
North East Delhi MP and the BJP’s state unit head, Manoj Tiwari, accused the Arvind Kejriwal government of “spreading confusion” over the Centre’s move to regularise these colonies. He said Kejriwal had failed “in its attempt to subvert” the Centre’s endeavour of giving ownership rights to people living in unauthorised colonies.
Puri pointed out that the bill would benefit almost 40 to 50 lakh people in the national capital. Tiwari hailed the bill and said how, for generations, people lived in uncertainty as were unable to mortgage their properties while proper development never reached these areas.
The added benefit of the bill is that once these colonies are regularised, MPs and MLAs would also be able to spend their local area fund (MPLAD) for developing amenities in these areas.
Tiwari claimed AAP government never wanted the Centre to succeed in its attempt to give ownership rights to the poor people living in these colonies.
The unauthorised colonies, once considered a Congress stronghold, played a crucial role in AAP’s landslide win in the 2015 Delhi assembly elections.
The BJP is trying to lure residents of these colonies to end its 21-year “exile” from power in Delhi. Nearly four million people live in Delhi’s 1,797 unauthorised colonies, according to Economic Survey of Delhi 2018-19).
