DNA: New Delhi: Saturday, June 03, 2017.
The Central
Information Commission (CIC) has ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
to compile land lease records of the Capital and provide them to the petitioner
who had asked for them under the RTI Act.
The CIC's
decision comes after the DDA had earlier submitted that it does not have
compiled land lease records of the Capital and hence could not submit them.
In the order,
the CIC has stated that compilation of these records was the need of the hour,
as the lack of them was leading to a huge revenue loss for the Capital. Due to
this lack of data, the CIC maintained, one was not able to establish how many
tenants were living in government property free of cost.
In its
decision, the CIC said, "The DDA also deals with Master Plans and Zonal
Plans and it is strange to find no mention of such leases on the website which
would vital for future planning." ?
Currently,
DDA which comes under the Ministry of Urban Development is already looking at
6,000 to 7,000 properties whose lease has come to an end which were leased by
the British government.
Most of these
properties were leased by the British for either 90 or 99 years in presidency
towns which today have turned into metropolitan centres.
The RTI
petition was filed on January 1, 2015 by Deepak Juneja. In his petition Juneja
wanted information on all lands where the leases had expired whether they are
residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, agricultural or any other
by the Ministry of Urban Development or any other agency or department under
it. So far Juneja has not received any reply.
Considering
the lengthy time frame, the CIC also pulled up the concerned departments for
not providing a reply till now. It also concluded that the petitioner should
have been earlier informed that such a compilation doesn't exist and ordered
the DDA to put together a compilation without delay.
DDA stated
that it would take six months for the departments to compile the data and
provide it to the petitioner. It was also noted that the matter is already
under the cognizance of Delhi LG's Office. Most of these properties come under
the jurisdiction of the Old Scheme Branch.
Needs
paperwork
Currently,
DDA is already looking at 6,000 to 7,000 properties whose lease has come to an
end.
Most of these
properties were leased by the British for either 90-99 years in presidency
towns which have turned into metropolitan centres now.