Urban welfare policies of Chhattisgarh are a beacon of sustainable urbanisation

Dhan ke katora or the Rice bowl of India, this is what Chhattisgarh has always been famous for. However, with the arrival of the Bhupesh Baghel Government in power, many things about Chhattisgarh have changed for the better.

A Chief Minister who believes that urbanisation is not something limited to mere infrastructural development, rather it is the advancement in the whole living standard or quality of urban life and it has to be driven by the people themselves. Seeing the population of humongous 5.5 million urban dwellers of the state as his family, the vision to ensure them a quality urban life, the journey to achieve such a goal is as difficult as the destination itself. But in order to attain the same, CM Baghel led government, after setting phenomenal benchmarks in the sector of Tribal Welfare, agriculture based reforms, paddy procurement records and so on, is now endeavouring to put forth such pro citizen reforms which are likely to bring astounding transformations in the life of urban dwellers as well.

‘MOR ZAMEEN MOR MAKAAN’

Making both ends meet is something that has always been the major concern for especially the marginalised class of the society even in the urban areas, however one more consequential challenge which is faced especially by the urban man is to own a roof to live under safely, a parcel of land and a safe residence to call it a home is the basic propensity for an urban dwelling family. With the launch of ‘Mor Zameen Mor Makaan’ scheme Baghel government has taken a major step towards sustainability in the lives of the urban population of Chhattisgarh. This twofold scheme ensures housing welfare with land ownership and financial assistance to otherwise landless slum dwellers.

REGISTRATION AND STAMPS DEPARTMENT BECOME A TOOL OF URBAN WELFARE

The most innovative decisions by the government which are entrusted in the urban welfare has resulted in clearing several pre-existing backlogs in various commercial and finance based activities has not only led to the prosperity of urban people but also incurred benefit to the government’s revenue. The registration department being one of the major revenue generating departments for the state, during the current financial year, has witnessed a colossal growth in the number of documents been registered with the department, whereby a phenomenal 1.82 lakh documents were registered during the period starting from 1st of April 2020 to 31st of January, 2021 in this financial year and an praiseworthy revenue of 1087.19 crore Rupees in form of stamp and registration fee has been credited to the state.

MORATORIUM ON REGISTRATION OF SMALL PLOTS ENDED

Keeping the convenience of the general public in consideration, the Chhattisgarh state government in January 2019 lifted the pre existing Moratorium on the sale of small land blocks, which has turned out to be a crucial provision for E-registration system and as a result of which a total of whopping 1 lakh 86 thousand 423 documents related to transactions made in small plots were registered with the department in the period from 1-January 2019 to 31-January 2021, thereby facilitating the general public.

30% REDUCTION IN MARKET PRICE RATE DETERMINING GUIDELINES

In the interest of the public, the state government from 25-07-2019, accorded for a uniform reduction of 30 percent in the rates of guidelines which act as the authority to determine the market value of documents. The aforementioned guidelines will remain unchanged also for the year 2020-21 as per the government. As a result of which, a contraction in the market value of properties has occurred, enabling the middle class for sale and Purchase of property and in turn making it easy for people especially the urban dwellers to buy house / real estate by getting relief from what has been made possible by the urban welfare based decisions of the Bhupesh Government.

UP TO 2% CONCESSION IN REGISTRATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Up to 2 percent Concession in the rate of registration fee charged on the sale deeds of houses / buildings up to Rs 75 lakhs has been presented by the government as on August, 2019. It has also further been provided by the government that the said concession has been retained for the financial year 2020-21 as well. The above decision has culminated into the registration of a total of 17,112 of such documents with the department between August-2019 to January-21.

SIMPLIFICATION OF E-REGISTRATION AND NETWORK PROBLEMS DONE AWAY WITH

Besides further simplification of the e-registry processes as per the necessity, steps has also been taken for disposal of the inconveniences being faced by the parties on account of the existing network problems by introduction of an additional network connectivity (leaseline), which would facilitate the registration process by providing a hindrance free registration.

ONLINE APPOINTMENT FACILITY FOR REGISTRATION

Keeping in view the safety measures for the prevention of Covid-19 infection, necessary arrangements have been made especially for the parties in the registration offices of the state. Online appointment (Slot Booking) facility has been provisioned in the software to ensure the effective compliance of social distancing norms for the parties to be present in registration offices.

CONVENIENT AVAILABILITY OF E-STAMPS

To ensure convenience in the availability of E-stamps, the stock holding corporation has taken steps for availability of e-stamps by making arrangements for sale currently at 12 centers through more than 500 public service centers and above 200 vendors.

MUKHYAMANTRI SLUM SWASTHYA YOJNA

The marginalised and poor families even in the urban areas suffer greatly owing to the health related problems and for them a day of illness means losing a day’s wage. Therefore in order to transgress such vulnerabilities, the Chhattisgarh government has launched the ambitious ‘Mukhyamantri

Slum Swasthya Yojna’, under which 120 modern, all equipped Mobile Medical Units reach the Urban Slums at a time suitable to the local population. These MMUS, led by professional, specialist doctors, provide free consultation, diagnostic services and medicines to any and everyone if need be.

SANITATION TO GENERATE INCOME BESIDES URBAN WELFARE PARAMETER

Sanitation is another elementary parameter for a sustainable city. With Swachh Bharat Mission working in the said direction, CM Baghel firmly believes in attaining a sustainable position because dependency on such schemes for sanitation might have a cascading effect in case the central government aid stops. Therefore attaining sustainability by linking sanitation with livelihood would ensure self-reliance for the system. Chhattisgarh sanitation model envisioned with 10,000 women self help group members who have been earning a monthly income of Rs. 10,000 which comes from a fixed honorarium and proceeds from the sale of segregated dry waste.