A bill to extend protection to unauthorized colonies in Delhi against punitive action till December 2026, three years from the December 31 deadline, was passed in Parliament on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha after a brief discussion, in which three members participated.
Speaking on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the problems in Delhi existed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the responsibility of governing the country in May 2014 and the problems were due to neglect.
He said the bill has been under discussion by the Center since 2019, when the Delhi Chief Minister had asked for two more years to complete the work.
There are approximately 40 lakh people living in these unauthorized colonies. If an average household has four members, we will have to register around eight to 10 lakh households. We have already done four lakhs. We need to do more and we need to accelerate the transition,” Puri said.
He said that people are coming to Delhi from rural areas and other parts of the country, but the previous governments did not solve this problem.
Puri said that the land area of Delhi has not changed, but the population has increased from seven-eight lakh in 1947 to about 2.5 crore at present.
While the problem was visible 20 years ago and could have been addressed earlier, action by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court led the Congress government to bring in a law in 2006 to provide protection to unauthorized colonies for a year.
This law was extended every year till 2011 and after that it was extended for three years and is being extended till today.
The minister said he is in active consultation with the Delhi Chief Minister and his colleagues to know by when they will complete the verification of unauthorized colonies, after which the Center can start identifying encroachments and unauthorized colonies and provide relief. Can provide.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that Congress and AAP members, despite being in the House, did not support the bill important for Delhi.
He said that there is no place for the poor in the hearts of Congress and AAP members.
“His anti-poor and anti-backward class mentality is visible every time. Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are together. This is the real face of the arrogant INDI alliance,” Goyal said.
He also raised the issue of copying of Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar by Trinamool Congress (TMC) members.
Goyal said the entire Jat community criticized the act of insulting the Rajya Sabha and the Vice President, but a Congress member from the community in the House did not condemn it.
Eight members took part in the discussion on the bill in the Upper House.
Initiating the debate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Baburam Nishad supported the bill.
He said that schemes like ‘Jal se Nal’ being run by the Narendra Modi government across the country will be implemented in Delhi.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Amar Patnaik and BJP’s Anil Jain and Rakesh Sinha supported the bill.
AIADMK member M Thambidurai said the Center should help solve problems related to slum dwellers not only in Delhi but in other parts of the country.
An opposition member demanded voting on the bill but it was rejected by the chair as the member was not in his seat.