The Power of Competition in Politics: Unauthorized Colonies Regularised in Delhi

The draft to The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act was introduced in the Parliament on November 11, 2019. It was passed in The Lok Sabha on November 28, 2019, and in The Rajya Sabha on December 12, 2019. It comes under The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

As per the Gazette of India, this is ”An Act to provide special provisions for the National Capital Territory of Delhi for recognizing the property rights of resident in unauthorized colonies by securing the rights of ownership or transfer or mortgage in favour of the residents of such colonies who are possessing properties on the basis of Power of Attorney, Agreement to Sale, Will, possession letter or any other documents including documents evidencing payment of consideration and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.

Of the nearly 1.2 crore people that reside in Delhi, around 40 lakh live in unauthorized colonies that are spread across the vast 175 square-km landmass of Delhi. Regularization of such unauthorized colonies has forever been a rickety undertaking as the succeeding governments have hesitated to make the last call.

When the AAP issued its manifesto for the 2015 elections, it assured the people of Delhi with 70 promises. Promise number 56 was “Regularisation and Transformation of Unauthorized Colonies”.

After handsomely coming to power in 2015, the AAP Delhi government redrafted and approved a regulation for the regularisation of unauthorized colonies in Delhi. The government of India was requested by the Delhi government to give notice for the same with the purpose of regularising all those unauthorized colonies where the built-up area was more than 50% as of January 01, 2015.

In its March 2016 annual budget, the Delhi government under CM Arvind Kejriwal and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia allocated Rs 300 crore to Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (DSIIDC) for the execution of development works in unauthorized colonies.

In its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the BJP government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi had called upon to regularise unauthorized colonies in Delhi. It was evident that the issue of regularisation was being brought up with the intent of luring people for the elections scheduled for early 2020.

In a press conference on July 18, 2019, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal contended that the AAP government will regularise unauthorized colonies in the National Capital Territory (NCT) and proposed a set of parameters to regularise the 1,797 colonies which include charging 1% cost of circle rate of land up to 200 square meter plot from occupiers in addition to a minimal penalty.

Following the course of AAP, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry under the BJP led Central government formulated a Cabinet note to grant land possession rights to people living in 1,797 unauthorized colonies. Though, the Act did not apply to 69 colonies acknowledged by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) including Anantram Dairy, Mahendru Enclave, and Sainik Farms.

It is a fact that the matter for the regularisation of the unauthorized colonies was raised by the AAP government and considering polls in Delhi in early 2020 the BJP government also jumped in the wagon and very quickly introduced and passed the Bill in the Parliament. Some may call it an election-oriented move but it is a win-win situation for everybody. The occupants who have been living at their domiciles for decades will finally get ownership rights. The governments will get a handsome amount of money in exchange for the grant of these rights. Also, considering that these people formed a huge section of the vote bank, it would have been an extremely tough task for any government to throw these people out.

Call you may it an election-oriented move but it is most welcome. People should be thankful to both governments. It is an excellent example that demonstrates the power of competition.

Furthermore, governments must make stringent regulations to ensure that no such new colonies are established in the future, as suggested by the Delhi government to the Central government in July.   

It must also be noted that as per the prevailing regulations of 2008, the procedure of regularisation was to be organized and administered by the Delhi government, so the BJP government at the centre could not have done anything alone unless new laws were framed. So, the AAP deserves greater gratitude.

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