Being deeply agitated over repeated pressure of all three Municipal Corporations of Delhi on the traders of Delhi for paying conversion and parking charges and lethargic attitude adopted by Delhi Government in not notifying 355 Roads as Commercial & Mixed Land Use for which a comprehensive list has been submitted by the united MCD in 2007 even after a gap of six years thus hanging a sword of sealing, a delegation of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) met Union Urban Development Minister Mr. Kamal Nath yesterday at his office in Nirman Bhawan at New Delhi. The CAIT delegation was led by its National Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal. Joint Secretary of the Ministry & Vice Chairman, DDA Mr. Dipti Vilas and other officials were present at the meeting.
The delegation was accompanied by Mr. Atul Bhargava & Manoj Aggrawal of New Delhi Traders Association, Mr. Satender Jain & Mr. Vijay Gupta of Delhi Iron & Hardware Merchants Association, Mr.Sanjeev Gupta of Pitampura Market Traders Association, Mr.Adarsh Gupta, CAIT Convener of National Headquarters, Mr.Satender Wadhwa, President, Greater Kailash Market Association, Mr. Rajesh Goel, President, Association of Computer Coaching Centres, Ms. Paramjit Bakshi of Delhi Rajya Vyapar Sangthan etc.
Mr. Khandelwal while submitting a memorandum to Mr. Kamal Nath alleged that officials of all three MCDs are leaving no stone unturned in violating the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act, 2011 passed by the Parliament which has prohibited any punitive action on people of Delhi on the subjects related to Master Plan. If at all any action is taken, the officials are under obligation to seek approval of Administrator of Delhi. Whereas on the other hand the MCD officials are pressurizing the people to pay conversion and parking charges or else face threat of sealing. Though the MCD has taken about Rs.1000 crore on account of conversion & parking charges from people of Delhi which is a clear violation of Delhi Laws (special provision) Act.The Authorities were under statutory obligation of keeping such amount in a ‘escrow account’ and the money was specifically to be used for development of parking but so far no parking facility is made available to the traders.
On the other hand the Government of Delhi is playing a game of hide and seeks with people of Delhi. The traders are at a loss to understand as to why the 355 road have not been notified even after a large gap of six years. There are many issues under the Master Plan for which Delhi Government has to take initiative but so far nothing has been done on this count. The DDA is another culprit which is more interested in auctions rather than preparing development plans and making land available for various commercial and other projects as mentioned in the Master Plan. Both DDA and Delhi Government were supposed to develop Rehabilitation policy for the negative trade. They have also failed to draft a shifting of trade policy.
While giving a patient hearing to the delegation Mr. Kamal Nath assured that speedy steps will be taken to redress the issues raised by the CAIT and directed Vice Chairman DDA Mr. Dipti Vilas to hold a separate meeting with Delhi traders and deeply examine the issues and problems so that remedial measures can be taken. To thrash out the issues he also accepted the suggestion of CAIT to hold a joint meeting of all concerned authorities to avoid any communication gap and to have synergy among them. He called upon the traders to extend a helping hand to make Delhi an ideal city where people can live with dignity and we can set example for others. The CAIT on behalf of traders assured utmost cooperation to the Government.