A glimmer of hopefor B Khata property holders

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

The state government has announced that it will take up measures to speed up the shift of six lakh properties recorded in the ‘B’ register to ‘A’ register. However, critics point out that a case in this regard is pending in the Supreme Court.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s announcement about the measures being taken on six lakh properties recorded in ‘B’ register has brought cheers to lakhs of property owners, who have been waiting to get their properties recorded in the ‘A’ register.

The chief minister has said that over six lakh property details have been recorded in the ‘B’ register in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. “In order to facilitate converting them into ‘A’ list, the issue will be examined in the light of Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act and the Karnataka Land Revenue Act,” the chief minister said.

Residential sites at many layouts and 110 villages that were added into the BBMP more than a decade ago continued to be recorded in the B register since the BBMP is yet to collect the development charges from the property owners. With a case pending in the court on issuing A khata certificate for the properties recorded in the B register, the BBMP has not taken a decision on issuing A khata certificate to the properties recorded in the B register.

M.S. Shankar, General Secretary, Forum for People’s Collective Efforts, has opined that the Budget proposal may not withstand the legal tests.

“I am a critic of the conversion of B Khata sites to A Khata due to the pendency of this issue at the Supreme Court. State Government, instead should have convinced the Supreme Court, wherein detailed legal and operative guidelines satisfying the Government and General public, would have emerged,” Shankar said.

M Sreenivas, who owns a residential site at Seegehalli near KR Puram, wants the chief minister to take measures to clear all hurdles for the conversion of B khata properties into A khata, after collecting the specified fees from the residential site owners.

“With properties remaining recorded in the B register, many property owners have to run pillar to post to avail loans from financial institutions to construct their homes. I welcome the Budget proposal made by the chief minister. I hope he will implement this proposal as early as possible for the benefit of lakhs of B khata property owners,” said Sreenivas.

Many are of the opinion that the state government has to make all out efforts to implement this proposal for the benefit of lakhs of people. “I want the chief minister to create a suitable ambience for the benefit of lakhs of people from middle and lower-middle class people who own B khata properties. This announcement should and must not become one of those promises made on the eve of forthcoming elections to the State Assembly. The government should establish a single window for converting B khata properties into A khata properties,’’ said Sai Datta, a social activist.

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Open Forum secretary Ashok M has said the state government had attempted once or twice to convert B khata into A khatas by collecting a penalty but in vain.

“I am of the opinion that the state government should not only collect a reasonable amount as a penalty for converting properties recorded in the B register, but also fix a cut-off date for accepting applications in this regard. The government should not encourage land developers to develop layouts without permission in future to avoid gullible buyers getting cheated,” said Ashok.