A bill to extend protection to unauthorised colonies in Delhi against punitive action for three years beyond the December 31 deadline, till December 2026, was passed by Parliament on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha, after a brief discussion in which three members took part.
Speaking on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said problems in Delhi existed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed the responsibility for governance in the country in May 2014 and the problems were due to neglect.
He said the bill is under discussion by the Centre since 2019, after the Delhi chief minister sought two more years to complete the work.
"The legislation came into being in 2019. In the beginning of 2020, we were facing the (COVID-19) pandemic and in the pandemic for 2020 and 2021, virtually no ground-level work could be done. There are about 40 lakh people living in these unauthorised colonies. If an average household has four members, then we have to register about eight to 10 lakh households. We have already done four lakh. We need to do more and we need to expedite the transition," Mr Puri said.
He said people have been coming to Delhi from rural areas and other parts of the country, but the problem was not addressed by the earlier governments.
Mr Puri pointed out that Delhi's land area has not changed, but the population has gone up from seven-eight lakh in 1947 to around 2.5 crore at present.
While the problem was visible 20 years ago and could have been attended earlier, the Congress government brought the legislation in 2006 to provide protection to the unauthorised colonies for a year due to action from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.
The legislation was extended every year till 2011 and thereafter, it was extended by three years and continues to be extended till date.
The minister said he has been in active consultation with the Delhi chief minister and his colleagues to know about the date by when they will complete the verification of the unauthorised colonies, after which the Centre can start identifying encroachments and unauthorised colonies, and provide relief.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the Congress and AAP members did not support the important bill for Delhi, despite being in the House.
He said the Congress and AAP members have no place for the poor in their hearts.
"Their anti-poor and anti-backward class mentality gets reflected every time. The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are together. This is the real face of the ghamandia (arrogant) INDI alliance," Mr Goyal said.
He also raised the issue of mimicry of Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar by Trinamool Congress (TMC) members.
Mr Goyal said the entire Jat community criticised the act that insulted the Rajya Sabha and the vice president, but a Congress member in the House hailing from the community did not condemn it.
Eight members participated in the discussion on the bill in the Upper House.
Initiating the debate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Baburam Nishad supported the bill.
He said schemes like "Jal Se Nal" that are being run by the Narendra Modi government across the country will be implemented in Delhi.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Amar Patnaik and the BJP's Anil Jain and Rakesh Sinha supported the bill.
AIADMK member M Thambidurai said the Centre should help solve problems related to slum dwellers not only in Delhi but also in other parts of the country.
An opposition member demanded for voting on the bill but the chair rejected it as the member was not on his seat.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
