New Delhi, Jul 18 (UNI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday made a major announcement for the residents of Delhi's 1797 unauthorised colonies.
The decades-long wait of the residents of unauthorised colonies for regularisation and home ownership is now coming to an end.
Mr Kejriwal cabinet had cleared the proposal to regularise 1797 colonies on November 2, 2015 and sent it to the Centre on November 12, 2015.

The Chief Minister stated, "Congratulations to the people living in unauthorised colonies. You will soon be owners of your houses. The Centre is willing to give its approval to the Delhi government's proposal sent by us in November 2015. The preparations to begin registry have started. I would like to thank the Central government on behalf of the people of Delhi."

Addressing the media on this issue, the CM said, "A long-standing dream of the people living in unauthorised colonies is going to be fulfilled soon. Until now, all Central and state governments had betrayed the people living in unauthorised colonies. Before every election, they would promise regularisation, but would not fulfil their promise. But we started working on this promise right from day one. The Cabinet cleared the proposal in November 2015 and sent it to the Centre."

Sharing the Centre's response to the Delhi government, Mr Kejriwal said, "Yesterday, the Central government has given us very positive feedback on our proposal. They are ready to accept our proposal. I want to thank the Central government on behalf of the people of Delhi. I also want to congratulate the people of Delhi."

The Chief Minister also said, "The Centre has also sent some technical questions on the proposal. I've directed all senior officials in a meeting this morning to immediately prepare responses to the satisfaction of the Central government within the next two-three days. "

Announcing the government's plan to ensure smooth and efficient registry of properties of the residents owning these in unauthorised colonies, Mr Kejriwal said, "l have directed the Revenue department to begin the preparations for the facilitation of large scale registries for all homes in unauthorized colonies across the cities. We will set up camps to ensure smooth processing of all registries and whatever else that may be needed to be done. No person should face any trouble to complete their registry.'

Mr Kejriwal said that it was a moment of celebration for the people living in unauthorised colonies whose decades-old dream of ownership of their homes is being fulfilled by their government.

Speaking about the plight of unauthorised colonies before his government took office, the CM said, "No development work was ever done in these colonies. They were always deprived of the most basic facilities because they were tagged 'unauthorised' by previous governments. There were no roads, drains, sewer, water pipeline etc. As soon as our government came to power in Delhi, we started the development work in these colonies on a war footing.'
'The Delhi Government has spent and is in the process of spending Rs 3500 crore on construction of roads and lanes. Similarly, Rs 2500 crore has been spent and is in the process of being spent on laying water and sewer pipeline in these colonies. In total, an unprecedented Rs 6,000 crore have been invested into development works for unauthorised colonies,' he said.
The Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain said the cut-off date for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi will be January 1, 2015 as mutually agreed upon by the Central and Delhi governments.
This means that those colonies which have applied for regularisation before January 1, 2015 will be eligible for regularisation.
Another key issue for regularisation of unauthorised colonies is the provision of basic amenities in these colonies.In a series of judgments, the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court have ruled that regularisation will only take place after basic facilities--sewers, drains, roads and lanes are provided in these colonies.
Keeping this important fact in mind, the Kejriwal government has so far set aside Rs 6,000 crore for provision of basic facilities in these colonies and the scale of work that has been undertaken during last four and a half years is unprecedented.
UNI PY ADG 1830