Jammu, Oct 1: The Evacuee property department is mulling a humanitarian move by offering rent concessions to those  tenants falling under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category or those having physical disability.  
 Officials said that it is part of reforms process undertaken by the government to make department more people friendly. Sources said that apart from this Evacuee Department has also decided to extend the lease of EP for residential purpose to 20 years and that for commercial purposes to 40 years.
 To make it more accountable and ntroduce work culture in the department it has been decided that the permission for repairs of old evacuee houses would be granted within 21 days by the concerned Custodian Officers at the rate of fee of 8 per cent of the estimates.
 Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla said that with regard to the repairs and improvement of structures constructed by EP department, the department will charge 8 percent for repair and 15 percent for improvement fee respectively from the tenants, while people falling in BPL category or with major life threatening disease will not have to pay any fee.
 The Minister said that the illegal occupation, particularly sub-letting shall be regularized on payment of Rs 150 per square feet for commercial use and Rs 100 per square feet  for residential purposes.
 “No charges will be levied where lease hold rights are transferred by the lessee in favour of his direct legal decedents and wherever it is intended to be transferred to 3rd party 70 percent and 50 percent of the potential value of the structure shall be charged as premium for commercial and residential purposes respectively”, said an official of the department.
 Sources said that there has been long pending demand from the people in possession of the EP property that lease period should be extended by the government as they have to face the harassment from the officials. Though people cannot be the owners of the property in their possession, but keeping in view the near impossibility of the original property holders coming forward for claiming it, these have been literally been taken over by the people.  
 It is pertinent to mention here that the state government created an authority titled Custodian of Evacuee Property to safeguard the property of Muslims who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and settled there permanently as citizens of Pakistan.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 2 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST