Punjab Government gave yet another “last opportunity” for legalisation of an illegality.
Converse to the tough stance projected by him in public on last being the very last indeed, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Friday once again gave in to populist forces and announced the extension of last date for regularisation of illegal colonies to November 5.
This is the third “last opportunity” announced by Deputy Chief Minister since the policy for regularisation was approved by the state Cabinet in June this year.
With Friday being the deadline for the regularization of the illegal colonies, including residential plots and commercial buildings, it was given another extension. Besides, the state government has provided further opportunity to the laggards to get the regularisation done even after the last date “by paying penalty” till November 15.
Even as the extension is being seen as the state government’s attempt to get all the illegal structures regularized, and succumbing to the pressure and protest across the state, the government officials claimed that the decision was taken considering the “festive season and busy schedule of the people in view of Diwali and Vishavakarma festivals”.
The decision, taken during the high level meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Sukhbir and attended by Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, was aimed at collecting maximum funds on this pretext in its kitty. So far, the state government has collected more than Rs 125 crore under the scheme.
The meeting also decided that after November 5, 2013, the applicants could get their plots and houses regularize by paying 20 percent compounding fee on residential plots while 50 percent for unauthorized colonies and commercial sites till November 15.
Once again, Deputy Chief Minister categorically made it clear that “there would be no further extension after November 15” and people should not drop this golden chance — statement that had also been made earlier at several occasions.
At the same time, Sukhbir ordered the officers concerned to accept forms both manually and online to facilitate people to approach authorities as they wish.
He also directed that all plot holders in the below poverty line (BPl) category could get their plots regularized free of cost up to 100 square yards.