The Congress party has reversed its stance and broken its promise regarding the Layout Regularization Scheme (LRS). Before coming to power, it vowed that the LRS would be free of cost and no fees would be charged to the public.
However, this recent decision has imposed a financial burden amounting to lakhs of rupees on poor and middle-class families. The LRS, initially aimed at regularization, now appears to be a strategy to fill the government coffers.
The latest guidelines issued indicate that this scheme will generate Rs. 1,000 crores for the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Rs. 450 crores for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
To expedite the regularization process, the government has issued guidelines to complete it within the next three months. The applications will be examined starting this week. The plan involves organizing the plots in three phases and the layouts in four phases. District Collectors, GHMC and HMDA Commissioners, and officials from the Registration, Panchayat, Revenue, and Irrigation Departments have been instructed to take the necessary initiatives.
The government has also mandated the establishment of helpline centers in the offices of collectorates and local bodies to address issues related to notices issued on regularization applications. According to the order, district collectors will oversee the applications in areas outside the jurisdiction of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Metropolitan Development Authority, and municipalities.