New Delhi: Naresh Kumar, a resident of Raja Vihar in Rohini, was among the first 20 beneficiaries to receive ownership rights to their properties in Delhi’s 1,797 unauthorised colonies in January 2020 under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Unauthorised Colony in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana (PM-UDAY), launched just before the assembly elections in February 2020.
The PM-UDAY scheme was introduced in December 2019 to address the longstanding demand of residents for legal recognition. Backed by the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act, 2019, the initiative aimed to benefit over 10 lakh households.
However, the scheme has failed to benefit as envisaged. As of 12 January, only 28,787 property owners have obtained ownership rights, according to the portal of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the nodal agency for the scheme’s implementation.
In November last year, the DDA initiated a special drive (extended till 31 March 2025) to assist residents of these colonies in applying under the scheme. Over the past five years (up to January 2025), a little over 1.27 lakh people have applied.
“Had they set up these camps earlier, a large number of people would have had ownership by now. Many applications are being rejected or remain pending due to deficiencies in property ownership documents,” said 58-year-old Kumar, president of the Raja Vihar residents’ welfare association, speaking to ThePrint.
According to the DDA portal, of the 1.27 lakh applications, 62,126 are pending (either with the DDA or property owners due to document deficiencies), and 36,211 have been rejected.
“A majority of people living in these colonies are not educated, and need help with the necessary paperwork. Over the past two months, many have been able to apply for ownership,” he added.
For over two decades, regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been a key demand of their residents—the number of such colonies has grown from 1,218 to 1,797 since 2003—and has been an important poll promise for all political parties in Delhi.
The PM-UDAY scheme was seen as a game-changer, helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) garner the support of residents of unauthorised colonies. These colonies were once a core support base for Congress, which later shifted to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Despite this, the scheme did not politically benefit the BJP, as AAP won 62 of 70 assembly seats and formed the government.
Today, the regularisation of colonies or granting ownership rights to their residents is no longer a key electoral issue for political parties or residents, experts say.
“Like the issue of full statehood for Delhi, regularisation of these illegal colonies has been a key poll issue for decades. These colonies have been a major support base or vote bank for Congress, which later shifted to the AAP,” political analyst Tanvir Aeijaz, associate professor of political science at Ramjas College, told ThePrint.
“But this time, both issues (full statehood and regularisation of illegal colonies) are no longer on the agenda of political parties. For residents, it is no longer an issue as there is no fear of their houses being demolished. Moreover, they now receive essential facilities, from roads to water supply. Today, people are more interested in the freebies offered by political parties, even if it comes at the cost of development,” he added.
Response to PM-UDAY muted
Of the 1,797 unauthorised colonies notified by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2019, PM-UDAY is being implemented in 1,731 in the first phase.
The scheme is yet to be implemented in over 65 colonies, including Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave, and Chattarpur Extension, categorised as “affluent” by the ministry. Residents of these colonies have demanded inclusion in the scheme, but the Centre is yet to decide, according to senior DDA officials.
In the 1,731 colonies, residents cite stringent norms for obtaining ownership, lack of awareness about the application process, and delays in processing applications by the DDA as major hurdles.
A senior DDA official told ThePrint that special camps have been organised over weekends since November to help residents apply under the scheme. “We have streamlined the process. In the past two months, the number of applications has increased compared to previous months. This is why it was decided to continue the camps until March.”
In approximately 90 unauthorised colonies, the scheme was put on hold in mid-2020 as they fell under Zone ‘O’ of the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 (MPD-2021), where construction activities are banned.
Residents of lower-income localities in south, east, and northeast parliamentary constituencies, such as Jaitpur, Okhla, and Badarpur in South Delhi, and Karawal Nagar in Northeast Delhi, among others, are unable to apply for ownership rights.
“The central government has not resolved some basic issues in the past five years; this speaks volumes about BJP’s commitment to granting ownership rights,” said Anil Sharma, a Jaitpur resident pursuing the matter with the DDA.
Politics over unauthorised colonies
In 1977, 567 unauthorised colonies were regularised in the national capital. Since then, nearly 1,800 illegal colonies have emerged, but none have been regularised.
While the demand for regularisation started in the late 1990s, it became a key poll promise by Congress during the 2003 assembly elections, a senior Congress leader and former MP J.P. Aggarwal told ThePrint.
In 2003, the Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi government began identifying unauthorised colonies and preparing plans for their regularisation. The Delhi government received applications from 1,639 unauthorised colonies.
In its bid for a second term in 2008, Congress vowed to regularise 1,218 eligible colonies. Ahead of the elections, the Congress-led Delhi government issued provisional regularisation certificates to these colonies.
“The issue of regularisation has been ignored by both the AAP and BJP governments in the state and Centre. Both parties have failed residents of these colonies,” said Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav to ThePrint.
“We began development work in these colonies, but the AAP government has done little to improve infrastructure. Meanwhile, the BJP has failed to grant ownership rights despite the DDA being under its control,” he added.
However, BJP MP from South Delhi Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said to ThePrint, “We have delivered on our promise to grant ownership rights. We have achieved what Congress could not deliver during its 15 years in power in Delhi and 10 years at the Centre. Even the AAP has done little for these people.”
“It is our government that has given people the option to secure ownership rights. It is up to them to apply and benefit from the scheme,” he added.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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Half of the people in these unauthorised colonies are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Delhi Police must identify the ones and deport them to Bangladesh immediately.