The Hindu : Front Page : Sakrama fee cut for small sites

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Saturday, Feb 23, 2008
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Sakrama fee cut for small sites

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The State Government on Friday came out with revised guidelines for adopting the Sakrama scheme for regularisation of illegal housing sites in Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits.

The Government has drastically cut the regularisation fee by 80 per cent for illegal sites with an area of up to 60 square metres (20 x 30 ft; there are about 50,000 such sites) and 60 per cent for sites with area 60 to 120 (30 x 40 ft; about 1.5 lakh sites) square metres.

With this cut, the regularisation fee has come down from Rs. 200 to Rs. 40 a square metre for sites up to 60 square metres and from Rs. 400 to Rs. 160 for sites with an area of 60 to 120 square metres in BBMP limits. The Master Plan 2015 will be made applicable for land use in Bangalore.

Addressing presspersons after an Executive Committee meeting, Governor Rameshwar Thakur said a decision had been taken to modify the Sakrama scheme in the wake of complaints against the exorbitant fee fixed earlier.

With this reduction in fee, the [fee] collection would come down from Rs. 600 crore to Rs. 400 crore in BBMP limits.

The Government has untouched the regulation fee for sites above 120 square metres and illegally constructed buildings.

S. Krishna Kumar, adviser to the Governor, said the scheme had been revised taking into consideration grievances of small plot owners in cities. For sites of more than 120 square metres, the plot owners have to pay the difference amount between betterment fee already paid and regularisation fee.

The Sakrama scheme would not be applicable to layouts developed by various government agencies such as Housing Board, Slum Clearance Board and sites developed under the Ashraya scheme.

If there are any violations in construction of layouts, action would be taken as per the law. The Government has decided to constitute several committees for implementation of the scheme in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike limits.

The revised guidelines of the scheme would be published in the Gazette notification in three days and the public would be asked to make suggestions in 30 days. Based on the suggestions, the final guidelines of the scheme would be implemented, which was likely to be in April, Mr. Krishna Kumar said.

For youth

The Government has decided to set up a Karnataka Urban Training Development Corporation for developing job skills of the youth.

P.K.H. Tharakan, adviser to the Governor, said the corporation would impart training in various skills which would help youth in getting jobs in public and private industries.

The corporation would come under the jurisdiction of the Labour Department and it would become operational soon, he said.

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