Akrama-Sakrama: Commercial buildings to be excluded, says K'taka Revenue Minister Ashoka

Revenue Minister R Ashoka said Monday that the state government will seek Supreme Court's permission to implement the Akrama-Sakrama scheme by excluding commercial buildings from its purview.

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The Akrama-Sakrama scheme, which is pending before the top court, seeks to regularise illegal constructions. The previous Congress government came up with this scheme in 2016.
"The law framed to regulrise buildings that have come up in layouts that violate building plans and were constructed without approvals is pending before the Supreme Court. The government is now trying to file an affidavit saying we won't regularise commercial buildings and that the scheme will be restricted to residential properties," Ashoka told reporters.

"If the court approves, then we will call for applications. Regularisation will be done for homes up to 2,000 sq ft that have come up on government land," Ashoka said. This, he added, would fetch the government Rs 20,000 crore.

Last month, nonprofit Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), which had challenged the Akrama-Sakrama scheme, toned down its stand on the controversial proposal. The foundation, which is backed by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said it will not come in the government's way to get the Supreme Court stay vacated as long as the scheme will be confined to poor and middle-class families.