It is often said that that the right hand of the government does not know what the left is doing. True to this saying, the Democratic Front government has announced extension of the deadline for protection of illegal slums from 1995 to January 1, 2000, without bothering to comply with a directive of the Bombay High Court to draft a comprehensive policy on unauthorised slums in Mumbai.
Even more shocking is that a high-level committee, headed by the chief secretary, entrusted with the task of drafting the policy held its first meeting just this Tuesday though it had been formed in October 2005.
The HC gave the directive in 2005 while hearing a writ petition by Relief Road Housing Society Association. The government had in March 2001 told the court that the cut-off date for protection of illegal slums would not be extended beyond 1995.
But in 2005, it approached the HC with a request to extend the date to 2000. The HC said, instead of repeatedly approaching the court for permission to protect slums, the government should draft a policy on providing shelter to people migrating to Mumbai, which is why the committee was set up in 2005.
According to a senior minister, the committee met for the first time on Tuesday. Soon after, the housing department was told to work on a proposal to extend the cut-off date.
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Even more shocking is that a high-level committee, headed by the chief secretary, entrusted with the task of drafting the policy held its first meeting just this Tuesday though it had been formed in October 2005.
The HC gave the directive in 2005 while hearing a writ petition by Relief Road Housing Society Association. The government had in March 2001 told the court that the cut-off date for protection of illegal slums would not be extended beyond 1995.
But in 2005, it approached the HC with a request to extend the date to 2000. The HC said, instead of repeatedly approaching the court for permission to protect slums, the government should draft a policy on providing shelter to people migrating to Mumbai, which is why the committee was set up in 2005.
According to a senior minister, the committee met for the first time on Tuesday. Soon after, the housing department was told to work on a proposal to extend the cut-off date.
Discuss
Tell a friend
Bury
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