VASCO
Residents of New Vaddem on Monday evening expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for his decision to legalise houses constructed on comunidade and government land.
Addressing a press conference, residents said this was the first time a government had genuinely considered their well-being, allowing them to proudly say, “Mhaje Ghar.”
The residents appealed to comunidade authorities to extend full support to the bill, stating that it would benefit a large number of people.
They explained that although they had been paying all relevant taxes, their houses were tagged as illegal since the land did not stand in their name.
Residents added that the legalisation of houses and transfer of land in their names would enable them to undertake procedures like partition and mutation, besides availing themselves of loans for repairs and renovations.
They also thanked the Chicalim and Chicolna Comunidades for supporting the Regularisation of Unauthorised Construction Amendment Bill and urged other comunidade to adopt a similar approach to assist locals, many of whom have been residing on the land for over 50 years, with houses built more than 45 years ago.
The residents further requested comunidades to apply nominal land rates and, if possible, offer instalment payment options for lower middle-class and poor families, ensuring that land ownership is transferred only after the full payment is completed.
