Cabinet panel wants spike in regularisation charges for colonies; policy goes for rework

MINISTERS WANT HEFTY CHARGES, THAT IS, TWO TO THREE TIMES OF THAT APPLICABLE UNDER SADBJP REGIME; FEE IN PREVIOUS GOVT WAS UP TO ~10 LAKH PER ACRE

CHANDIGARH:AS three of five ministers on the Punjab cabinet subcommittee on regularisation of illegal housing colonies met on Thursday, they failed to reach a decision. After what was the third meeting of the panel, it was decided to further rework the draft, then put it in public domain for feed back and meet again to discuss it.

The members present were health minister Brahm Mohindra, local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and rural development minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, whereas finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi did not attend due to reasons not known. The three ministers were in no mood to regularise the colonies easily, and officers were thus asked to impose hefty charges, that is, two to three times of that applicable under the previous SAD-BJP regime. “The fine should be a deterrent,” a minister told his colleagues in the meeting, it is learnt. The charges under the SAD-BJP government policy went up to Rs 10 lakh per acre; colonies with a size up to 20 acres were considered.

There are 8,000 such colonies — 4,500 in the jurisdiction of housing department and 3,500 under local bodies — on more than 25,000 acres, according to a fresh survey by the two departments. It needs mention here that 926 FIRS were registered against promoters of these colonies, the fate of which also remains to be decided.

As for legal colonies, there are only 515 under the housing department, while that figure for local bodies was not immediately available.

“After reworking the policy, it would be put online for comments from the general public and beneficiaries, and not the colonisers alone this time,” said an officer who did not want to be named. Officers of the departments of housing, revenue and local bodies were involved.

It was also decided that the government would have no “major responsibility” for development and maintenance in these colonies, and the resident welfare associations would take care of that.

However, funds collected for regularisation would be spent on the same colony.

SIDHU ON FUND ISSUE

On the proposal put forth by the revenue department that it would earn Rs 500 crore from registration of properties once it’s opened in such colonies, Sidhu raised a red flag, it is further learnt.

An officer told HT that Sidhu said the onus on local bodies department for development and maintenance of such colonies (once regularised) was huge — to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore — that funds to that tune were not available. He also said in the meeting that the illegal colonies can’t be treated on a par with legal colonies that have fulfilled norms and paid fees on time, officers revealed. Sidhu was not available for comment.

The issue of considering built-up are in an illegal colony up to 25%, and not 10%, also came up. The government has already decided not to give individual clearance to plot/house owners as was done by the previous government. Plots in an illegal colony could be regularised once the colony gets all clearances.

The panel also issued instructions that each colony would be treated as a separate entity, and a survey be done to know which one needs what kind of development. Another officer present in the meeting said the government would study the road width, open and covered spaces, and other details to work out regularisation.