In November last year, DDA initiated special drive, extended till 31 March, 2025, to assist residents of these colonies in applying under PM-UDAY scheme.
New Delhi: Naresh Kumar, a resident of Raja Vihar in Rohini, was among the first 20 beneficiaries to receive ownership rights to their properties in Delhi’s 1,797 unauthorised colonies in January 2020 under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Unauthorised Colony in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana (PM-UDAY), launched just before the assembly elections in February 2020.
The PM-UDAY scheme was introduced in December 2019 to address the longstanding demand of residents for legal recognition. Backed by the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act, 2019, the initiative aimed to benefit over 10 lakh households.
However, the scheme has failed to benefit as envisaged. As of 12 January, only 28,787 property owners have obtained ownership rights, according to the portal of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the nodal agency for the scheme’s implementation.
In November last year, the DDA initiated a special drive (extended till 31 March 2025) to assist residents of these colonies in applying under the scheme. Over the past five years (up to January 2025), a little over 1.27 lakh people have applied.
“Had they set up these camps earlier, a large number of people would have had ownership by now. Many applications are being rejected or remain pending due to deficiencies in property ownership documents,” said 58-year-old Kumar, president of the Raja Vihar residents’ welfare association, speaking to ThePrint.
According to the DDA portal, of the 1.27 lakh applications, 62,126 are pending (either with the DDA or property owners due to document deficiencies), and 36,211 have been rejected.
“A majority of people living in these colonies are not educated, and need help with the necessary paperwork. Over the past two months, many have been able to apply for ownership,” he added.
For over two decades, regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been a key demand of their residents—the number of such colonies has grown from 1,218 to 1,797 since 2003—and has been an important poll promise for all political parties in Delhi.
The PM-UDAY scheme was seen as a game-changer, helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) garner the support of residents of unauthorised colonies. These colonies were once a core support base for Congress, which later shifted to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Despite this, the scheme did not politically benefit the BJP, as AAP won 62 of 70 assembly seats and formed the government.
Today, the regularisation of colonies or granting ownership rights to their residents is no longer a key electoral issue for political parties or residents, experts say.
“Like the issue of full statehood for Delhi, regularisation of these illegal colonies has been a key poll issue for decades. These colonies have been a major support base or vote bank for Congress, which later shifted to the AAP,” political analyst Tanvir Aeijaz, associate professor of political science at Ramjas College, told ThePrint.
“But this time, both issues (full statehood and regularisation of illegal colonies) are no longer on the agenda of political parties. For residents, it is no longer an issue as there is no fear of their houses being demolished. Moreover, they now receive essential facilities, from roads to water supply. Today, people are more interested in the freebies offered by political parties, even if it comes at the cost of development,” he added.
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