DDA seeks simpler process for property rights at unauthorised colonies

About 11,500 people in Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies have got ownership rights under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri – Unauthorised Colony in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojna (PM-UDAY) that was launched in December 2019, a senior DDA official said.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme, has written to the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) requesting modifications in the list of documents needed for processing the applications to further simplify the process so that people can be covered or benefit from the scheme.

Till December 3, the DDA has received 90,700 applications of which approximately 21,000 were rejected as the applicants were found to be ineligible and 11,500 were given ownership documents (either conveyance deed to properties on private land or authorisation slip to properties on government land).

DDA officials admit that the numbers are low as compared to the number of properties (approximately one million) in these unauthorised colonies that have close to four million residents.

A senior DDA official said that a lot of applicants don’t have a registered Will, which is one of the main documents needed to get ownership rights under the scheme. “We can’t process the application without the Will even if the applicant has all the other necessary documents related to sale-purchase of the property. We have written to the ministry for permission to process cases without the Will document and also recognise registered gift deeds. We are yet to get a response from the ministry in this regard,” said a senior DDA official who asked not to be named.

When contacted, there was no response from the ministry. DDA officials said the Covid-19 pandemic also impacted the pace of the work, as physical verifications couldn’t be done during the lockdown.

To increase the number of applicants, the DDA in July this year started holding camps in unauthorised colonies, hired a public relations firm to aggressively advertise the scheme, and set up centres to assist people in the documentation work.

“An important reason for the low response is that it is an open-ended scheme. There is no sense of urgency among people, as there is no cut-off date. We are internally examining this matter and might take it up with the ministry,” the DDA official said.

Residents of unauthorised colonies say that there is a need to relax the norms and simplify the process. Brij Mohan Somani, a resident of Badli, said, “The process is cumbersome. People living in these colonies are not well-educated. There is a need to simplify the method and process the applications in a time-bound manner.”

Naresh Kumar, a resident of Raja Vihar in Rohini, said one of the reasons why not many people are eager to get the ownership is because one of the main concerns of not getting a bank loan remains even after they get the rights.

Kumar, who was among the first 20 property owners to get the ownership of his property under PM-UDAY in January 2020, said, “I had applied for a loan of ₹10 lakh to carry out construction work. The banks have refused to give me a loan against my property. They say that the building plan should be approved by the municipal corporations, which is not possible. The government should do something about it.”

Sabyasachi Das, former planning commissioner in-charge at DDA, said, “The building plans in these colonies can’t be sanctioned as the layouts are not ready, and a majority of the buildings don’t meet the building byelaws criteria.”