Pawan Kumar Bansal has strongly condemned the decision of the UT Administration to raise conversion charges for converting leasehold residential properties to freehold at exorbitant and usurious rates to fleece the people of Chandigarh.

He added that for three years UT did nothing on the issue and today has clamped an absurd decision for calculating the conversion charges by raising land rate from Rs.1710 per sq mtr. to the prevailing Collector rates i.e. upto 55 times or say 5500 %. The Collector rates at present are between Rs. Eight four thousand and ninety-three thousand per sq. meter.

As per the approved charges, a low-income group (LIG) flat owner in the city will have to shell out at least Rs 2.11 lakh for getting his flat converted from leasehold to freehold. The amount shall go up to Rs 58 lakh 75 thousand for one-kanal plot,1.5 crore for two kanals and Rs two crore & 82 lakhs for a three kanal plot under Chandigarh Conversion of Residential Leasehold Land Tenure into Freehold Land Tenure Rules, 1996. The rates were notified on Tuesday.

"Do the authorities even have an iota of idea what they have done? Can they justify what made them raise the rates as per the prevailing collector rates?", he said. Bansal said, residents have already paid up huge amount as annual rent besides the original price of the plot which was comparable to the price of free hold plot of the same size.

In the circumstances, the Administration should immediately roll back the decision and re fix the Land Rate under the Scheme to not more than double the existing rates of Rs.1710 per sq meter, Bansal demanded.