The Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval to amendments in building rules to provide one-time settlement of non-compoundable violations.
The Cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, decided to bring 'The Punjab One Time Voluntary Disclosure and Settlement of Violations of the Buildings Ordinance, 2017' for all unauthorized constructions which have come up till September 30, 2017.The One Time Settlement scheme will be applicable to non-compoundable violations in the buildings constructed in partly contravention of the Building Byelaws in the municipal areas.According to an official spokesperson, the move was necessitated by the fact that there are a large number of unauthorized buildings where the building plans have not been approved. Most of the violations are non-compoundable, preventing regularisation of buildings under the existing provisions. It was, however, not feasible or desirable to demolish such buildings, most of which had come over the past many years. The government, thus, took a conscientious decision to regularise these buildings, provided the owners comply with the requisite fire and safety standards.
The Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the amendments in "The Punjab Town Improvement (Utilisation of Land and Allotment of Plots) Rules, 1983" with particular reference to reduction in 'reserve sale price' from 10 percent to 7 percent of the properties of Improvement Trusts in the state to be sold by way of an 'open auction'.There are, at present, 28 Improvement Trusts are carrying out the work of urban planning and improvement in Punjab. The properties of these Trusts are sold through open auction. Over time, the real estate market price has come down throughout the state, which has increased the gap between reserve sale price and market price. Thus, to rationalize the reserve sale price vis-à-vis market price, the department of Local Government carried out amendments in the Punjab Town Improvement (Utilization of Land & Allotment of Plots) Rules, 1983 on June 30, 2016. In order to facilitate the Improvement Trust auction and to attract the bidders, the aforesaid amendment had to be ratified by the Cabinet.