New Delhi:
Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, Union minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday handed over registry papers and conveyance deeds of houses to 20 residents of unauthorised colonies under the PM-UDAY (Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojna), even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government alleged that the Centre had issued “fake papers.”
Puri handed over the conveyance deeds and authorisation slips to 20 residents of Suraj Park and Raja Vihar in the presence of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
About four million people living in 1,731 unauthorised colonies in Delhi will be given ownership rights of their properties, the Union government announced in October, laying out for the first time the charges and the process by which it will be done.
The announcement marked movement in a politically sensitive issue that has been in the limbo for over a decade.
Addressing a press conference Friday, Puri said more residents will be given ownership papers in the coming days. “People had been hearing about the regularisation of unauthorised colonies for a long time as previous governments did not fulfil their promises. But now, development will take place in these areas at a greater speed,” Puri said.
AAP reacts
{{/usCountry}}AAP reacts
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to Puri’s remarks, Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the documents given to the residents were “fake” and called the process of granting ownership rights a “poll gimmick”.
Assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled in February.
“The BJP is misleading people by giving fake papers to 20 people out of 40 lakh people in unauthorised colonies. What will happen to the remaining people? Will their homes be regularised?” Sisodia asked.
The deputy CM alleged that because the Centre did not change the land-use in these colonies, sealing would continue unabated in these areas as people will not be able to make any changes to their buildings or carry out new constructions.
“BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had said the colonies will be regularised. But they have started giving the conveyance deeds and registries... Clause 2 of these papers distributed by the Centre itself says that these papers will stand invalidated in front of the existent laws and the Master Plan for Delhi 2021. Any MCD official can demolish their homes. Station house officers can harass them, and any authority can seal these houses. Corruption will continue to thrive,” Sisodia said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwai tweeted,”Now you are saying you will not regularise the colonies. How can you give registries in unauthorised colonies? How can there be a registry for home on farm land? Do not do fake registries,” he tweeted.
Later, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari challenged Kejriwal to stop the ongoing registration. “During the last five years, Kejriwal did not do anything. But when BJP conferred ownership rights to people in unauthorised colonies, Kejriwal asked for proof of the registry. Kejriwal and his team should firstly decide what they want,” he said.