JAIPUR: State govt has decided to regularise 87 ‘illegal’ colonies of Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB) by issuing lease deeds (pattas) on receipt of govt charges from the occupants. These colonies, most of them situated in Sanganer Assembly constituency of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, have been encroached upon for years.
It was decided in a recent meeting of the urban development and housing (UDH) department that RHB would shortly transfer the ownership rights of these plots to Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) on paper. JDA would then organise camps at these colonies and distribute lease deeds to occupants, accepting only the charges for pattas and other applicable govt fees, said officials.
“The housing cooperative society and development committee have been asked to submit the records by May 15. JDA would then organise the camps in July. The department has issued an order in this regard. However, the order is applicable exclusively for these colonies in Jaipur and not for any other colonies across the state,” said a UDH department official.
This initiative was undertaken to ensure that govt can at least recover taxes, water bills and other govt charges from residents of illegal colonies, said officials. For years, govt could not charge property tax or any other fees from these illegal occupiers. Neither could govt sell these properties nor evict the occupiers, sometimes due to humanitarian reasons and occasionally due to court orders, they added.
“Meanwhile, all these residences have obtained electricity connections. It was therefore decided to issue them pattas and regularise these colonies. Once they receive the pattas, they can apply for Bisalpur water. There is no benefit in merely categorising these occupants as illegal year after year without any returns,” said another official.
A section of UDH department officials, however, alleged that govt has formulated this policy to “gift” these plots because most of them are located in the CM’s constituency.
