The Delhi Congress on Tuesday protested outside Nirman Bhawan, the office of Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri, to protest against the The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill, 2019.
The Delhi Congress argued that the Bill would exclude 40% of unauthorised colonies from regularisation as these colonies fall under the list of exclusions for being situated in areas marked as forest land, on the Yamuna flood plains or close to monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra alleged that the BJP government at the Centre and the Kejriwal government in Delhi were “hatching a conspiracy” to uproot over 40 lakh people living in unauthorised colonies. “Mr. Puri has admitted that according to Section 7A in the Gazette Notification on unauthorised colonies, 9% colonies will go out of the purview of regularisation, but the actual figure is 40% and he is not in touch with the ground realities,” Mr. Chopra said. He added that the Congress would fight this clause in the notification and would not allow those living in the unauthorised colonies to be forced out without giving them ownership rights.
The protest caused a traffic jam in central Delhi and the police detained several leaders who were protesting.
