Chitra Sarwara met Minister Vipul Goel regarding freehold issue

Ambala, 2 September:- Chitra Sarwara met Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel regarding free-hold issue and placed before him main demands of Ambala Cantt. She demanded to make the excise area of Cantt free-hold without any additional financial burden and objected to proposed heavy fee. She demanded that by removing hurdles of registry, maps, ownership transfer and bank loans, citizens be given complete and clear ownership rights.
Young leader of Haryana and founder of Team Chitra, Chitra Sarwara along with her colleagues, councillors, former councillors and citizens of different areas of Ambala Sadar met Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel regarding demand to make excise area of Ambala Cantt free-hold. During this, they prominently raised the important issue of property rights related to thousands of families of Cantt. They told the minister that existing land and house owners living for decades in Ambala Cantt excise area be given complete and clear ownership rights and free-hold process be such that does not put heavy financial burden on citizens. They said that this is not just a matter of land but question of rights related to houses, businesses, life savings and future of thousands of families.
Chitra Sarwara said that in Ambala Cantt excise area thousands of families are living for generations in properties obtained under existing grants. These properties were obtained by citizens and their ancestors according to legal procedures and prevalent rules of that time. For decades, taxes, house tax, stamp duty and other dues related to these properties have been regularly paid to government. Despite this, these families have not yet got complete and clear ownership rights on their properties. She said, "When a family has been regularly paying taxes and other government fees related to its property for decades then it should not be forced to bear heavy financial burden again to get full ownership of that property. Chitra Sarwara, targeting previous BJP government also said that the then MLA from Ambala Anil Vij was both Local Bodies Minister and Home Minister in that government. He had position, influence and ample opportunities to resolve this issue from 2019 to 2024 but the issue of free-hold was not given priority. She said, "The trust and power with which Ambala brought Anil Vij to power was not used to resolve this long-pending issue of Ambala Cantt. This better opportunity was wasted from 2019 to 2024." She said that government should now move forward with a clear decision instead of limiting this issue to meetings and assurances.
Chitra Sarwara also expressed serious concerns about proposed draft policy. According to her, provision of imposing heavy fee on basis of collector rate for freehold is being considered. If fee is fixed at collector rate of about 60,000 to 72,000 rupees per square yard then it can put a significant financial burden on thousands of families. Collecting considerable amount from families paying taxes and other fees to government for decades to get full ownership rights raises serious questions about public interest. She demanded that proposed heavy fee be abolished and free-hold process be made simple, transparent, practical and public-friendly. She demanded that all hurdles be permanently resolved with free-hold. Benefit of free-hold should not remain limited to government documents only but citizens should be able to get real economic value of their property.