Realty bill could take RS by storm
With the Real Estate Bill scheduled to be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the Upper House is likely to witness a war of words between the treasury benches and the Opposition.
Main Opposition Congress has upped the ante over it after its vicepresident Rahul Gandhi’s met home buyers last week and accused the Narendra Modi government of working against middle class home- buyers by “diluting” the bill and making it “pro- builders”.
The government was forced to defer the bill last Wednesday after the Opposition insisted on referring it to the select committee of Parliament. Urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had then said that the bill should be deferred to allow the government time to have more consultations with parties and had promised to bring it back to the House.
The Opposition had also rejected Mr Naidu’s arguments that the amend- ments proposed were based on suggestions of the standing committee.
Congress’ opposition to the proposed legislation has become more aggressive. The government has been insisting that the bill is aimed to regulate and promote the real estate sector and protect the interests of consumers.
The Congress has decided to bring out the “contrast” between the UPA’s real estate bill and the NDA’s legislation on the lines of what it did in the case of the Land Acquisition Act. The Congress’ argument is that in the earlier real estate bill, the carpet area was defined in a clear and unambiguous manner as “net usable area” in an apartment excluding walls.
The party claims that, while in the earlier bill, the builders were not allowed to change the sanctioned plan after it was approved, they can now undertake “minor alterations” just by intimating the buyer and the extent or type of minor alteration is also not defined.