To give a much-needed boost to the Punjab’s real estate sector, the State Government on Thursday took slew of decisions including notifying the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) rules, freezing FIRs against builders over unauthorised colonies pending review, among others.
The decisions were taken by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh while chairing a review meeting of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (H and UD).
Capt Amarinder gave the go-ahead for the notification of rules for implementation of RERA in the state. He has asked the Department to frame the rules and regulations for the implementation of the RERA in the State to protect the interests of property buyers against unscrupulous builders.
Approval to establish a regulatory authority for the implementation of the Act was also given by the Chief Minister.
Spokesperson said that the proposed authority, to consist of a chairperson and at least two members as mandated by the Act, would act as the nodal agency and the state government would soon notify the rules in this regard.
The Chief Minister will place the memorandum, related to the enforcement of the Act in the state, before the next Cabinet meeting for its approval.
The authority was mandated by the meeting to register real estate projects of 500 square meters and above or eight apartments or more. The ongoing projects that have not obtained completion certificate prior to May 1, 2017, are required to register within three months.
Capt Amarinder also ordered a freeze on registration of FIRs in cases relating to unauthorized constructions till the completion of the ongoing review of such colonies.
He also ordered priority allocation of housing government sites or flats for senior citizens and women in the reserved categories.
It was also decided that a meeting of the departments of Housing and Urban Development, local bodies and Rural Development would be held under the chairmanship of the chief secretary next week to prepare an action plan for housing for the State’s homeless—one of the Congress pre-poll promise.
The Chief Minister urged the concerned officials to find a way to provide basic amenities to the people living in unauthorized colonies without encouraging development of more such colonies.
He also asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Housing and Urban Development) to ensure that every developer earmarks five per cent of the total project area for construction of dwelling units for the economically weaker sections of the society, an official spokesperson said.
On the issue of regularisation of unauthorised colonies, Capt Amarinder asked the Additional Chief Secretary (H and UD) to prepare a comprehensive action plan in consultation with the chief secretary, so that basic amenities like roads, disposal of sewage and waste, sewerage, drinking water and street lighting could be provided to the residents of colonies that had already been approved.
Capt Amarinder suggested regulariSation of such colonies in a planned manner.
He stressed the need to devise a mechanism to ensure balanced development of colonies, both in rural and urban sectors, in a holistic manner instead of focusing only on urban development.