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Govt gets land in 95 Villages in big push for
Land Pooling Policy
AWAITING NOTIFICATION FROM THE STATE GOVT, THE LAND POOLING POLICY WAS IN A LIMBO AFTER BEING CLEARED IN SEPTEMBER 2013.
The much-awaited Land Pooling Policy - touted as the future of organised housing sector in the city will soon see the light of the day.
Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung has allowed transfer of ownership of the gram sabha land in 95 villages, identified for implementing land pooling policy across the city, to the Delhi government’s revenue department.
An order was issued by Som Naidu, director-cum-joint secretary (Panchayat), on October 29. A day later, the revenue department also issued a circular about the changed ownership to all officers concerned, including the six district magistrates under whose jurisdiction the 95 revenue villages are located.
The Delhi government had demanded the L-G office for enblock allotment of gram sabha land before it can notify the 95 villages, identified for land pooling, as ‘urbanized’ — thus declaring these villages as development areas in order to allow development of commercial, residential and community infrastructure.
The Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) plan to execute the land pooling policy has been in a limbo ever since the policy was cleared by the Centre in September 2013, awaiting notification from the state government. “The decision has removed the biggest bottleneck in the process. We can expect a decision on it soon,” a senior revenue department official said.
The DDA, which comes under the central government’s urban development ministry, is the sole land-owning agency in the capital and the L-G has the final authority on its policy matters. Sources said the state feared that it may lose its right over gram sabha land after declaring the villages as urbanised.
The ruling dispensation was of the view that it would become tough for the state to undertake future projects if it lets go of the ownership of the gram sabha land and it would become even more dependent on DDA for land, sources said. The AAP government is already locked in a war of words with DDA over allotment of land at ‘market rate’.
Officials said with the gram sabha land being vested with the revenue department, other agencies of the government could now seek allotment of gram sabha land from the revenue department.
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