Illegal occupants will have little option but to voluntarily

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday batted for passage of a bill to crackdown on unauthorised occupants of government residential premises, saying it was good time to push through the legislation as many MPs were waiting for their new accommodation.

Of the total 15,416 residential accommodation under the government quota, "currently 3,081 cases were under litigation," which was a matter of concern, Puri said while moving the the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019 for consideration and passage.

It is a "good timing to push through this legislation as many Members of Parliament (MPs) were waiting for their new accommodation", he said.

Residential accommodation was a privilege which certain sections, including the MPs and judges, enjoy, but even after the tenure of the authorised occupants ceases, they don't easily vacate the accommodation given to them, he said.

Therefore the intention through this amendment is to ensure that the occupants will be left with little option and would have to voluntarily move out of the accommodation, he said.

"We are proposing three specific amendments," the minister said.

The amendments will facilitate smooth and speedy eviction of unauthorised occupants from government residences which would then be available for allotment to eligible persons on maturity of their turn in the waiting list.

The proposed amendments would enable the estate officer to apply summary proceedings for evicting unauthorised occupants from residential accommodations and to levy damage charges for accommodation held during the period of litigation.

The Centre has to evict unauthorised occupants from government accommodations under the provisions of the PPE Act, 1971.

However, the eviction proceedings take unusually long time, thereby reducing the availability of government accommodations to new incumbents.

Participating in the discussion, Kalyan Banerjee(TMC) termed the bill as "draconian".

Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma (BJP) said during the time of filing of nomination, the person should also produce an affidavit stating that the government facilities would be enjoyed till the time the person is a member of Parliament.

He also raised the issue of illegal construction of mosques, graveyards and 'mazaar' among others on government land and said that a special investigation team should be set up to look into the issue.