A bill to regularise unauthorised colonies and rehabilitate slum dwellers in poll-bound Delhi was passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday with a key amendment under which colonies that have come up till June one, this year, will be eligible.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also said that the government was moving towards regularisation of 1,200 plus unauthorised colonies in Delhi, whose details can be given after firming up of final contours. The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill 2014, seeking extension of the existing Act for a period of three years from January 1, 2015, was passed after the government agreed to the amendment.
The amendment sought extension of cut off date for eligibility of colonies for authorisation from 2007 to 2014. Participating in the debate, several BJP MPs including Meenakshi Lekhi said properties that have already been booked for punitive action, will be a hurricane task with the available infrastructure, manpower and tools. "It is, therefore, proposed as under that the cut-off date for inclusion of unauthorized constructions be extended further to 2014," she said.
Replying to the debate, Naidu said the amendment makes colonies eligible for authorisation beyond the cut off date of February 8, 2007. Now the government has agreed to extend the date to June 1, 2014. He said everyone, particularly, the Delhi members and people who live adjacent to Delhi have suggested that the cut-off date has to be extended.
"As of now, the cut-off date is 2007. As I was discussing earlier, what is the reality? Can you remove people who have settled after 2007 and who have been living in that place by 2014? In the original Bill it is 2007. "So... I want to move an amendment also. Seven of the Delhi Members have given a notice for moving amendment for extending the cut-off date from February or March of 2007 to end of 2014, but I am willing to go by the collective wisdom of the Members of the House and I want it to be extended by 1st June 2014," Naidu said.
The bill was introduced against the backdrop of phenomenal growth of Delhi that has led to problems of encroachment on public land, growth of slums, unauthorised constructions, large scale commercialisation of residential areas and inadequacy of housing stocks.
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