New Delhi, November 6
The DDA has decided to formulate a policy for regularisation of thousands of properties occupied by displaced people since 1940.

According to a survey conducted in 1959, there were as many as 18,179 such properties which were transferred to the DDA.

In order to provide relief to their occupants, the DDA has decided to frame a policy to regularize such occupancy. For working out the guidelines, the details of the occupants are being collected from the Census House Listing Schedules of 2010-2011 where each structure has been listed along with the status of the owner or the tenant. Help of the National Population Register-2011 and various socio-economic surveys is also being taken to get the information, a DDA spokesperson said.

These properties are located in Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Anand Parbat, Chuna Mandi and all such areas which fall in 22 nazul estates, the spokesperson said.

They were occupied by refugees who unauthorisedly settled in the open spaces. The occupants were issued slips known as "damages slips" for using the government land.

Over a period of time, these plots were inherited, subdivided or sold and "damages slips" became the basis of various transactions. In many cases, the transactions were registered also.

The number of such properties has multiplied now. There are around one lakh families and about 5 lakh occupants who are staying in such places after paying damages. Many of them even do not pay any damages. Some of the area was occupied on leasehold basis and is continued to be occupied by such occupants even though the lease has either expired or cancelled, the spokesperson added.

New Delhi, November 6
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to focus on Delhi for the next five-ten years, said its chief Arvind Kejriwal and any decision on fighting elections in other states will be taken only

," said Kejriwal, who led the party to a dream debut in the Delhi Assembly elections after people's mandate in the Capital.

"We are concentrating on Delhi only. As far as I am concerned, I am going to focus on Delhi for the next five to ten years in December last year.

Noting that a strong base in the national Capital was necessary for the party's growth, the 46-year-old leader said any decision on fighting elsewhere will be taken after polls in Delhi.

"We are very confident of our victory. People were amazed to see the speed at which our government was functioning and the kind of decisions we were taking. We are confident of coming back to power," he said.

The civil servant-turned politician, who faced severe criticism for quitting as the Delhi Chief Minister in February, said the party was "fully ready" to take the electoral plunge and identified the BJP as its main opponent.

"Till Delhi elections, we are not fighting in any other election. After polls here, the party will decide where to fight and where not to fight," he said.

The AAP leader also strongly rejected criticism that he does not know how to govern, saying people were amazed to see the speed at which the AAP government was taking decisions and providing relief to them.

"They say we do not know governance. I want to ask what governance is. In the past 65 years, the BJP has been in power in so many states. Can you name a single state where corruption had come down substantially.

“The Congress has been in governance for 65 years at the Centre and in states, they could not contain corruption. We did it in 49 days. We know governance," he said.

New Delhi, November 6
Miserable conditions of cleanliness in the municipal corporations areas is the BJP's model of governance, said a statement of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The statement said when the Union government had launched the "Make India Clean" campaign on October 2, the AAP volunteers had actively participated in it and promised the residents that they would make it a continuing campaign.

People from across Delhi had sent at least 10,000 photographs on the AAP's WhatsApp helpline number about the garbage in their areas and at public places, all of which were sent to the Mayors of the three MCDs, the statement said.

However, instead of appreciating the people's campaign, the Mayors tried to run it down. Does the BJP now have any answers to what the court has stated about the MCD. On September 17, the Delhi High Court had found that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation had submitted fake photographs to show that Dwarka was clean. On October 30, the court had slammed the SMCD and told it not to limit the cleanliness campaign to a ritual, it said.

The BJP can no longer hide its failures since the MCDs indictment has come from none other than a constitutional authority. The AAP will take the reality to the people and present the MCD as BJP's model of governance in the campaign for the coming assembly elections, the statement said.

New Delhi, November 6
Delhi Congress clarified that it has not constituted an eight-member committee in connection with the Delhi Assembly elections or held any discussion about it or the 1984 riots accused.

"The party has strongly condemned the misinformation being spread by mischievous elements as part of a devious plan," said Mukesh Sharma, Delhi Congress spokesperson.

"It was unfortunate that the news about the constitution of a committee in connection with the elections was being carried by the media," he said.

Meanwhile, the party accused the BJP-ruled municipal corporations of collecting money from the shopkeepers after threatening them with challans on the cleanliness drive.

The party leaders said that the cleanliness campaign in the city has been limited to just putting photos in the social media.

Quoting the incident that happened at the Islamic Centre yesterday, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyaya first threw the waste around and then cleaned it in front of the media for creating a photo opportunity.

"Corruption is widespread in all the three MCDs, and the BJP leaders in connivance with the officials have just been picking the pocket of a common man," Sharma said. He alleged that the BJP leaders and the municipal councillors are busy collecting money from those who construct new houses in Delhi.

New Delhi, November 6
The Health Department of the Delhi government is still awaiting Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's nod on imposing a ban on the production, storage, sale and purchase of all kinds of raw chewable tobacco products in the city.

The proposal which was initiated by the Delhi State Tobacco Control Cell in September last year was approved by the Chief Secretary in May, after being cleared by the Food Safety Commissioner, Delhi government officials said.

"It has been almost six months that the file is lying with the LG and we are awaiting his nod to impose the ban," an official said.

"Gutka was banned in Delhi in September 2012, after which sellers started selling the components of gutka (raw tobacco and supari) in two separate pouches because of which, the purpose of banning the gutka was totally defeated. Thus we decided to ban all raw chewable tobacco products in Delhi and make it a tobacco-free city," Additional Director, Health, S K Arora said. — PTI

New Delhi, November 6
Tenants, mostly students, have decided to move a "civil disobedience movement" demanding implementation of room rent control law for affordable accommodation in areas near the Delhi University campus as there is shortage of hostel facilities in colleges here.

The protesters, along with their supporters, comprising mainly students from Christian Colony, Mukherjee Nagar and neighbouring areas, have decided to stop paying rent, which they claimed was sky-rocketing, and demanded implementation of Delhi Room Rent Control Act, 1995, to check the hike.

"If the act is not implemented, we have decided to boycott paying the rent. Gandhiji used to boycott on the issues he did not feel correct. We will follow the path of the Father of Nation," said Parveen Singh, convener of the group of protesters.

"What we want is the implementation of the act. We do not want anything new. All we demand is the implementation and enforcement of the law that has already been made," he said.

Singh has also been staging a hunger strike with six others under the banner of "Right to Accommodation" in front of the Maurice Nagar police station since October 31. Two of the group, Mohammed Adil and Manish Bhartiya, were shifted to a nearby hospital after they fainted on the fifth day of their protest.

He said they were students who had come from distant parts of the country and their earnings did not match the rising incomes of people in Delhi, and sought a check on sky-rocketing rates of house rent.

The Delhi Rent Control Act states that the tariffs could be checked, he said. — PTI