Accommodative policy on reserved plots in the offing, Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan tells House

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday announced in the state assembly that the government will soon come out with an accommodative reservation policy, which will guide various municipal corporations on the usage of reserved plots within a particular time period.

The issue had come up for discussion during the question hour, when some members raised the issue of public amenities not being provided at places where plots were reserved for the same.

They cited the example of Pune Municipal Corporation, where 15% of the plots were reserved for providing amenities. However, of these 739 plots, only 394 were acquired by the corporation and of these, the proposal for128 plots was cleared by the corporation.

Members of the opposition alleged that it had become a business to reserve spaces and then remove them. They stated that when the corporation did not have any money, it was not fair to hold on to a reserved plot for years together without providing any public amenities.

“It has become a business to reserve a space and then remove the reservation so that it can be blocked for some time,” alleged Eknath Khadse, leader of the Opposition. He added, “When there is a court decision that if a plot is not used for 10 years for the purpose for which it is reserved, why is it that order not taken into consideration and reservation removed?”

Chavan said, “It is right to say that there are illegalities in this issue. However, we will soon come out with a timeline on such reserved plots. A policy will be worked upon and brought out.”