Delhi govt move against Centre's regularisation policy

new delhi: the delhi government will move a resolution during the one-day special session of the assembly on wednesday conveying its disapproval of the union government's recent decision to regularise 1,071 unauthorised colonies. the resolution to be moved by urban development minister a k walia is being seen as the most important feature of the first ever special session of the assembly.the city congress is thus trying to achieve consensus on this issue among its legislators. the resolution was discussed and approved by the delhi cabinet on monday. none of the congress mlas are likely to oppose the government's resolution since it includes all important issues raised even by the dissidents. for instance, the resolution demands that the cut-off date for regularisation of unauthorised colonies should be extended from march 31, 1993, to march 31, 1998. ``this house believes that it will be far more pragmatic, realistic and a sincere solution to the problem of people of delhi living in other unauthorised colonies which came up subsequently as it will facilitate their inclusion and also those 238 colonies for regularisation, recommendations for which were received but were not included in the list of 1,071 colonies,''the resolution states. incidentally, a similar resolution, moved by prominent dissident congress mla mukesh sharma, had been passed by the assembly in april, 1999. the resolution also states that the union government's decision has imposed ``extremely harsh conditions'' regarding payment of land rate with penalties and additional penalty for violation of building by-laws. it also demands that colonies be regularised on payment of development charges alone which may be fixed by the concerned local authorities. ``this basically conveys the sentiments of the congress mlas who want that only development charges should be taken from residents of these colonies. the government is trying to please various factions within the congress by including these points and there should be complete unanimity in the house,'' a senior congress mla said. opposition leader jagdish mukhi, however, said the resolution will not have any impact on the union government's decision since land in delhi is a reserved subject. ``we are formalising our strategy but the government's resolution should more practical and realistic,''mukhi said. bjp sources, however, said the party will oppose the resolution in its present form. ``we will raise certain important issues in the house on wednesday which the should form part of the resolution,'' mukhi added. some senior delhi bjp leaders, meanwhile, are trying to convince union urban development minister jagmohan that land rate fixed for residents of unauthorised colonies should be reduced as they are ``slightly high.'' penalty issue causes concern by a staff reporter new delhi : senior delhi congress leader jag parvesh chandra said on tuesday that union cabinet's decision to impose penalty on the incomplete list of 1,071 unauthorised colonies was a matter of great concern. chandra is heading the 22-member committee constituted by the city congress to look into the regularisation issue. the committee has already held two meetings. chandra said the committee will finalise its report after views of all the congress mlas were known. ``if necessary an affidavit can be filed in the delhi high court on basis of the committee's report,''chandra added.