Panel to recalculate enhancement in 5 districts set up

The committee will be headed by D Suresh, chief administrator, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP).

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has set up a committee to recalculate enhancement, after a meeting with representative groups of plot owners was held in Chandigarh on Thursday. Enhancement is the increase in compensation paid to a farmer/ land owner for the acquisition of his/her land, which is decided by a court in case the farmer or land owner is not satisfied with the price of land being offered by the state government or its agency.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has set up a committee to recalculate enhancement, after a meeting with representative groups of plot owners was held in Chandigarh on Thursday. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The committee will be headed by D Suresh, chief administrator, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP). One sector each in five districts—Gurugram, Rohtak, Hisar, Faridabad and Panchkula—has been selected for the recalculation. Sector 57 in the city will be a part of this exercise.

Acting on the CM’s order, Suresh on Friday held a video conference with the HSVP administrators of these districts, plot representatives and other officials from land acquisition and town planning departments. “I have asked the administrators to measure the total land of each sector acquired by the HSVP in these five districts and then prepare the details of common land and plotted lands separately. There are 56 categories of common land that the HSVP creates at time of developing sectors and common land, such as roads, schools, parks, sewers, drains, nursery schools, dispensaries, hospitals, markets,” Suresh said.

He said that the owners are likely to be exempted from 44 categories and a final decision will be taken after he gets clear details of the common land and the land under plot allotment in each sector. “I believe plot owners will be given major relief after recalculation that may vary from 40% to 50%,” he said, adding that later, the same would be applied for all the HSVP sectors in the state.

About one lakh HSVP plot holders in the state had refused to pay the enhancement amount they received in March last year, terming the calculation baseless and devoid of facts.

“For instance, the HSVP acquires 1,000 acres of land and develops 650 plots of different sizes with common facilities on common land. When we buy plots in auction, we pay for the common land as well. We purchased plots from the HSVP in 2002-03 and 15 years later, we got an enhancement notice. We have raised an objection on the calculation of the principal amount for our plots and the interest for a 15-year delay. We want the HSVP to not charge us the price for all categories of common land and waive off the interest,” Tejender Sehrawat, a Sector 57 plot owner, said, adding their grievances were being addressed now.

Since then, plot owners had been staging protests to demand a recalculation of the amount and exemption from paying the 15-year interest. However, more than two lakh HSVP plot owners had already paid the enhancement soon after they received the notice from the HSVP in March, fearing further interest penalty for the delay in payment.

The government’s ₹550 crore enhancement dues are pending with HSVP allottees. Till July 15, the enhancement dues were close to ₹1400 crore . Last May, HSVP offered a 40% rebate and most allottees paid to avail the benefit.