In a first, the registry and conveyance deeds for their properties in two unauthorised colonies of Delhi were handed over to 20 applicants for ownership rights by Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep S. Puri here on Friday.
This comes in the backdrop of the coming Delhi Assembly election.
But Mr. Puri said the grant of ownership rights had “no relationship with elections”, adding that the work had been pending with the Delhi government since 2008. The grant of rights would benefit 40 lakh residents of 1,731 unauthorised colonies, he said.
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The 20 applicants from Raja Vihar and Suraj Park in the Rohini Assembly constituency became the first to get ownership rights to property in unauthorised colonies as part of the government’s decision to grant rights in 1,731 colonies.
At an event attended by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal and officials of the Ministry and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Mr. Puri said the 20 applicants had completed their documentation on the DDA portal, paid the fees, been given a conveyance deed by the DDA and completed the registry process at a registrar’s office of the Delhi government. The Minister had launched the DDA’s portal for registration of applicants and submission of applications in December. A total of 57,000 people had registered so far, and 3,500 had completed their applications.
He said more applicants would be given documents in the coming days and a dedicated server would be put in place to speed up the process.
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Referring to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s criticism that the Centre was misleading the people about regularisation of these colonies, Mr. Puri said the “old way of regularisation would have taken 10 years”, so the Union Cabinet had taken a decision and passed a law in Parliament to facilitate the grant of rights. “The more I deal with the Delhi government — I’m not talking about the institution but some eminent representatives who are occupying public office — I continue to be amazed at their capacity to derail matters... I have decided not to spend any time on commenting on the Delhi government or what they are doing. Because their actions speak for themselves and the people of Delhi will have to judge,” he said.
He said the money collected in the form of fees would go to a special development fund that would be used to create social infrastructure and roads. DDA vice-chairperson Tarun Kapoor said the work on creating layout plans — a step towards regularising the colonies — would start soon in accordance with the regulations laid down by the Centre.
One of the applicants given the documents, Pinki Sharma, of Suraj Park, said the registry would enable her family to take loans.