PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday assured the State Legislative Assembly that houses eligible under the ‘Mhaje Ghar’ scheme will not be affected by subsequent changes in zoning, while clarifying that structures falling within No Development Zones (NDZ) will not be regularised. The government has also decided to appoint mamlatdars, across 40 constituencies, as nodal officers for dealing with the scheme.
Responding to concerns raised by GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai over applicants being affected by subsequent zone changes, Sawant said houses would be regularised based on their zoning under the Regional Plan 2021, and subsequent changes in zoning would not be considered while deciding eligibility.
“Houses existing on settlement land before 1972, or before February 2014 in cases covered by the unauthorised structures framework, but subsequently shown as No Development Area (NDA), would be removed from the NDA classification for the purpose of the scheme,” he said.
Replying to a calling attention motion, Sawant said residential structures in coastal and CRZ areas that existed before 1991 would also be taken up for regularisation, subject to applicable provisions. However, structures located in NDZ areas would not be covered.
Sardesai pointed out that several zoning changes had taken place after the Regional Plan 2021 and that NDA was a new zoning category. He said subsequent zone changes had emerged as a major reason for rejection of applications under the scheme.
As per data cited by Sardesai, of around 8,000 applications processed so far, more than 50 per cent had been rejected, with rejection rates in individual constituencies ranging from around 50 per cent to over 90 per cent.
Sawant, meanwhile, assured the House that issuance of a sanad under Mhaje Ghar would provide complete protection to the house from demolition.
Responding to concerns raised by AAP MLA Venzy Viegas over protection from demolition and pending court cases, Sawant said that even if a house was not covered under the Mundkarial Act, once it was included in the relevant plan, an application had been made under Mhaje Ghar and a sanad granted, the structure would not be demolished.
“However, the applicant will still have to approach the authorities under the Mundkarial Act and obtain the necessary property documents. Houses for which sanads have been issued under the scheme will not be demolished irrespective of pending court cases. We will contest it before the court,” Sawant said.
He said the government had extended the application window by 18 months and nearly 50,000 applications had been received so far. He acknowledged that the entire process could not be completed overnight, particularly as several applicants were facing documentation-related difficulties.
Endorsing the Chief Minister, Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate said the government would adhere to the zoning applicable under Regional Plan 2021 and would not consider subsequent zone changes.
He said houses situated on municipal land were not included under the scheme and applicants would have to approach their respective municipalities and obtain a No Objection Certificate.
Monserrate also informed the House that legal heirs of deceased applicants could apply for regularisation of their houses and that a circular had been issued in this regard.
MLA Sankalp Amonkar, who moved the calling attention motion, highlighted difficulties faced by applicants, particularly non-acceptance of applications involving municipal land.
Ruling MLAs also raised concerns over comunidade bodies refusing to accept applications and said applicants were being forced to run from pillar to post before their applications were eventually rejected. They demanded clear directions to comunidade bodies to accept applications and dedicated Mhaje Ghar counters at mamlatdar offices.
Opposition MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao termed the scheme an “election gimmick” and raised concerns over pending litigation. They demanded a time-bound mechanism for processing applications involving government, comunidade, CRZ and NDA land.
