Bhupinder Hooda hits out at collector rate hike, says BJP burdening poor

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has criticised the the state government's decision to increase the collector rate, calling it a move that will make land unaffordable for the common man.

“The government has directly increased the collectorate by 10 to 145%, about two and a half times. For example, in an area of Fatehabad, the land rate has increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 35,000 per square yard, an increase of more than double,” said Hooda.

He pointed out that the government had previously raised collector rates drastically in December 2024. “Even then, the government had increased the collector rate by up to 250% in many places. Whereas generally this increase was only 5 to 10%, but now this government is increasing the rates differently for every street, locality and village,” he said.

Describing the hike as unprecedented, Hooda said, “Such a considerable increase has never been made in the history of Haryana. Taking such a decision for the second time within 8-9 months shows that the government has no concern for the problems of the poor and the middle class.”

“The BJP wants to crush them by pressing them under the burden of inflation from all sides,” he alleged.

He warned that the steep hike in collector rates would push property prices beyond the reach of ordinary people. “Due to the uncontrollable increase in the collector rate, the land rates will skyrocket, and the common man's dream of buying his land and house will now remain a dream,” he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Hooda recalled the decision to auction HUDA plots instead of allotting them at fixed rates. “The anti-poor and anti-middle class face of the BJP was also seen at that time, when the decision was taken to allot HUDA plots based on auction. Due to this, the rates of plots in the sector started jumping overnight and became out of the reach of the poor and middle class,” he stated.

He also criticised the government’s public consultation process. “The government just did a drama of asking the public for objections or complaints on the collector rate and deliberately gave only one day for this, so that people are not able to convey their complaints to the administration,” he said.