The Delhi Assembly passed a Bill to amend the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) Act, facilitating rehabilitation of slum dwellers, on the opening day of the Budget session on Tuesday. Two other Bills pertaining to education and disqualification of members were also passed in the House.
The DUSIB Amendment Bill, tabled in the Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and passed by a voice vote, will pave the way for rehabilitation of residents of slum colonies that came up in the Capital between March 31, 2002, and January 2, 2006.
Introducing the Bill, he said though all parties made “tall promises” to slum dwellers before every election, nothing tangible had happened. He affirmed that the government would not let jhuggis be demolished in Delhi.
“I want to ask why have successive governments neglected slum residents till now? And why have they been treated as second-rate citizens? They are forced to live in fear about when the police or the civic agencies concerned will turn up to destroy their homes,” said Mr. Sisodia.
In a reference to his initial days as social work along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said both of them had begun their struggle and volunteered for the rights of slum dwellers in the beginning and will continue to do so.
The amendment of Section 2(g) of the DUSIB Act will bring it in conformity with Section 3(2) of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act to facilitate rehabilitation of slum dwellers.
Following the passage of the Delhi Netaji Subhas University of Technology Bill, 2015, the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT) will be converted into a varsity after issuance of a gazette notification in this regard.
Tabling the Bill, Mr. Sisodia, said educational institutes of the Capital can be made world class if those associated with them worked hard.
“Making the NSIT a university will cater to thousands of students. Against the 3,400 seats in NSIT at present, it will have 12,000 seats in four to five years.” He said he wanted to see the educational institutes of Delhi counted among the world’s top 100 ones, and later among the top 10.
The House also passed the The Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) ( Amendment) Bill by a voice vote, seeking to insert the word “Minister” after “Chief Minister” in the Act. The Act had exempted certain offices from being disqualified for being chosen as MLAs in Delhi.
In addition to the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the CM mentioned at serial number 7 in the schedule appended to the 1997 Act, the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister has also been included in the Act through the amendment.
