Delhi: Why legal tag has failed to enthuse home owners

NEW DELHI: Around 12,500 residents of the city’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies have received ownership rights under Pradhan Mantri – Unauthorised Colony in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojna (PM-UDAY) in slightly more than two years since the scheme was launched.

The process of registration of properties began on December 16, 2019 and 20 residents of two unauthorised colonies, Raja Vihar and Suraj Park, in north Delhi were the first to receive conveyance deeds and registration papers of their properties on January 3, 2020.

Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme, received 96,745 applications from residents of unauthorised colonies till February 18, 2022, out of which 23,271 ineligible applicants were rejected. In all, 12,480 people were issued either conveyance deeds (properties on private land) or authorisation slips (properties on public land).

While the number of applications pending execution is just 67, those pending at the applicants’ end is 54,489, which includes 43,114 applications where replies on deficiencies were awaited, 10,674 that were returned due to incomplete information, and 701 where charges were yet to be paid.

Though the PM-UDAY portal has seen nearly 4.5 lakh registrations till date and the scheme is estimated to benefit around 40 lakh people, officials say there are varied reasons why the number of residents who have received ownership rights is on the lower side.
Delhi: Why legal tag has failed to enthuse home ownersThe response was encouraging when the scheme started, but the Covid-19 outbreak within a few months resulted in registrations witnessing a major fall. By the first half of May 2020, GIS mapping of 70,000 properties was completed. During the lockdown, DDA’s four processing centres at Dwarka, Pitampura, Hauz Khas and Laxmi Nagar were operational. Officials at these centres were actively working during the lockdown period too.

The work of physically surveying properties has been challenging due to the ongoing pandemic. Work has been going on with due precautions and safety of both residents and surveyors, sources said.

An official said since there was no deadline for the scheme, a sense of urgency was lacking among the beneficiaries. Also, there was a feeling among many residents that getting a conveyance deed or authorisation slip wouldn’t make much of a difference on ground.

“A large number of awareness camps and meetings with RWAs in unauthorised colonies have been held in the past two years. We are extending all possible help to residents in getting ownership rights,” an official said.