Lok Sabha Passes Bill to Grant Ownership Rights to Residents of Delhi's 1,731 Illegal Colonies

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to grant ownership rights to residents living in Delhi's 1,731 unauthorised colonies.

The bill was passed by a voice vote and some amendments moved by opposition members were defeated.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari claimed the move would facilitate overall development of unauthorised colonies and now even parliamentarians will be able to spend their local area development funds there.

Tiwari said the passage of the Bill also "exposed" Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) whose sole MP in Lok Sabha was not present during voting on the legislation.

After its passage in the Lok Sabha, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, "History Created! I join more than 40 lakhs fellow citizens of Delhi to celebrate the passing of NCT of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill 2019 in LS & thank PM Sh Modi Ji for making this visionary step possible."

Tiwari claimed the unauthorised colonies will witness development that was "denied" to them under Congress and AAP dispensations.

BJP's Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the Modi government has restored the self-respect of more than 40 lakh residents of these colonies.

The tag of being residents of unauthorized colonies that has been troubling them for decades, has been removed in one stroke, he said.

"Modi government fulfilled its promise to regularise these colonies in 100 days of coming in to power at the Center while the AAP ruling in Delhi wasted five years and Congress 15 years by lingering the matter," Gupta blamed.