Cabinet approves ordinance extending protection to Delhi’s unauthorised colonies for 3 yrs

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the ordinance was approved since an older law was ending soon and there was no winter session this year.

A slum at Sarai Rohilla in Delhi | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance extending protection from punitive action to unauthorised colonies, JJ clusters and constructions in Delhi’s rural areas built on agriculture land for another three years, Union minster Prakash Javadekar said.

The NCT of Delhi (Special Provisions) Amendment Ordinance 2020 is an extension of a similar law first passed in 2011. When the 2011 law had expired, the government had in 2014 enacted the law again to grant a fresh extension.

Since the law re-enacted in 2017 was ending soon and there was no winter session of Parliament, an ordinance was approved to extend the protection for another three years (till December 2023), Javadekar told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

He said Delh’s unauthorised colonies, JJ (Jhuggi Jhopri) clusters and structures in rural areas built on agriculture land would get protection from the ordinance.

The ordinance has to be signed by the President before it comes into force, the minister pointed out.