Congress misleading rehab housing unit dwellers: Chandigarh BJP chief

City BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra today claimed that the Congress is misleading residents by misquoting an official document and spreading fear that the UT Administration is going to seize or demolish houses allotted under the Rehabilitation Scheme.

Addressing a press conference, he stated that the then UT Administrator had constituted a committee in 2023 to study the issues related to residents of small flats, rehabilitation colonies and tenament sites and provide suggestions for resolving long-pending matters. The committee submitted its recommendations to the Administration on July 30 this year.

Malhotra said the committee had neither recommended eviction nor seizure of any house. He said the committee highlighted the fact that thousands of such houses were not occupied by the original allottees, but by their legal heirs or those who purchased them later. Since the number of such cases was extremely high, vacating these houses would require lengthy legal procedures and place unnecessary burden on the courts.

Understanding the reality, the committee suggested that the person occupying the house as of August 16, 2023 (the date when the survey began), should be granted tenancy/occupancy transfer rights and rent or dues should be collected from them.

In cases where the original allottee had passed away and the heirs wished to continue paying dues, the Administration may accept it until a final decision is taken.