NEW DELHI: Union Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that the process of regularisation of the city’s unauthorised colonies will begin within 8 to 10 days.
The remark comes at a time when the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which Puri is a member, have been involved in a bitter spat for credit for the decision to accord ownership status and rights to property owners in unauthorised colonies.
“In the coming 8-10 days, the registry will also start to give ownership to the people. You (AAP) can keep lying to the people all you want. We will soon hand over ownership papers to residents of these colonies. You cannot be an obstacle to the happiness of Delhiites,” Puri tweeted.
The BJP has been going all out to reach the maximum number of voters, especially those in unauthorised colonies, with the message that it was the Centre, and not the AAP, which fulfilled their long-held dream of being accorded with ownership status, with an eye on electoral dividend.
However, the AAP has accused the BJP of “fooling” residents of unauthorised colonies and paying lip service in the matter. The BJP has already put up hoardings across the city, claiming that the decision to accord ownership status to residents of unauthorised colonies was taken by the Narendra Modi government.
Responding to Puri’s charge, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “First, the BJP should decide if it wants to regularise the unauthorised colonies. Unless they regularise the colonies, how will they give registries to the settlers? Such empty promises clearly show that they are deceiving the people. I challenge the BJP to remove the line from DDA website that there will be no regularisation, and instead, write that this is the process of regularisation of the unauthorised colonies. Let them also declare that they will hand permanent registries to property owners.”