By IANS,
New Delhi: Civic authorities in Delhi Wednesday urged the central government to give ownership rights to 340,000 slum dwellers as this will help in battling a deficit of Rs.80 crore every year which they spend in maintaining slum clusters.
“The families living in (slum) colonies should be given ownership rights (over the land and the shanty). The approval lies with the competent authority of the central government. If it is done so, 3.4 lakh families would enjoy ownership rights,” Subhash Arya, leader of the house at Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said.
“Moreover, the MCD would be able to save the expenditure of Rs.110 crore per annum, which at present it is incurring on account of their maintenance,” he added.
Authorities said that of these Rs.110 crore, they only manage to generate Rs.30 crore and the rest was deficit.
MCD officials had already met Home Minister P. Chidambaram over this and some allied problems.