In a move which could bring relief to thousands of families tagged as ‘Chulha Tax Payers’, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning to come up with a policy for them. While the unique tax system which began during the British rule is said to be obsolete now, yet it has entailed a series of uncertainties for the people under this category.

“Currently, 20,000 families fall under this category. The problems they face are numerous which mostly is of land rights. We are formulating a policy which would convert their lands into freehold. Many are stuck in legal battles as they are termed as ‘encroachers’ and have no where to go,” said Balvinder Kumar, DDA Vice-Chairman. The DDA will take up this policy in its next authority meeting scheduled in March first week.

The initial numbers of the chulha community is said to have been that of around 300 families. These people are currently found in fringes of the New Delhi area, namely Dasghara, Inderpuri, Todapur, Malcha, Pillanji and some areas in East Delhi like Shahdara. The concept emerged when the British shifted the Capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. “Todapur and Dasghara were among the villages from where the British acquired land after Delhi was declared as the new imperial Capital in 1911,” informed a DDA official.

The British then had acquired the land on paper but the villagers were not asked to leave. later Todapur was merged in the ridge area (then called southern ridge), each house that counted as ‘one chulha per family’ was put on a list. All such people had to pay tax — the chulha (traditional Indian stove) tax.

This tax was imposed despite the fact that before acquisition, the land belonged to some of the residents of the area. Some of these people pay a meagre amount of this tax even now.