M A I N   N E W S

Haryana House set to clear five key Bills
Naveen S Garewal/TNS

Chandigarh, September 4
The Haryana Assembly is set to clear five key Bills, including the one regularising hundreds of illegal settlements in the state, and another on encouraging eco-friendly colonies in various upscale suburban areas.

The legislation on regularisation of illegal colonies has been drafted and will receive the nod of the minister concerned when the cabinet meets before the Assembly session on Friday.

At the same time, the government is all set to introduce a Bill that will promote low density, eco-friendly colonies, moving away from the “concrete jungles” that have come up in various parts of Haryana, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Under this proposed legislation, the builder and contractors will be able to develop and sell farm houses increasing the green cover. Though, this may not be economically viable, but it will reduce the population density in some areas to acceptable limits.

One of the most important Bills being introduced in the forthcoming session of the Assembly is disbanding of all Improvement Trusts in the state and merging them with municipal corporations. The state government feels that these trusts have lost their relevance in the current development model and are a burden on the exchequer.

Improvement Trusts have traditionally been political nurseries for the ruling parties that promote their kin and other young politicians to work as chairmen. In Haryana, the trend has been prevalent since Bansi Lal’s regime. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, initially followed the tradition, but is now opposed to the idea as these trusts have proved to be wasteful.

The trusts that will be affected by the new legislation would be Ambala City, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Hissar, Charkhidadri, Fatehabad, Jagadhri, Gurgaon, Hansi, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Mandi Dabwali, Narnaul, Palwal, Panipat, Rewri, Sirsa, Sonipat, Rothak, Yumnanagar and Kurukshetra.

To strengthen MCs, there’s a proposal to bring in a legislation that will give more power to these civic bodies.

The corporations will be able to take direct action against violators who have misused premises, violated building laws and are indulging in activity other than for which the plans were sanctioned. This will also empower the MCs to take action without getting Housing and Urban Development Authority into the loop.

Yet another draft Bill that will be presented before the Cabinet pertains to the rehabilitation of Sikh and other Punjabi farmers who were uprooted after their lease expired.

The Bill aims at giving legal rights of cultivation and ownership to farmers who shifted to Kurukshetra and Pehowa districts in 1950s to comply with the scheme to “grow more food”. The beneficiaries will have to pay a nominal price besides proving that they were the genuine lease holders.

Regularising illegal colonies

The state government is scheduled to clear the regularisation of hundreds of illegal colonies through a legislation

Disbanding Improvement Trusts

There is also a proposal to disband all Improvement Trusts which have “lost relevance in the current development model.”