JOIN USDH Deciphers | Will the government really end the corruption in the TDR scheme?
Karnataka has promised to address some of the most troubling issues in the scam-ridden Transferable Development Rights (TDR) scheme. It has announced ordinances to amend the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, for this purpose. But will the proposed amendments really nip the scamsters in the bud or will the land sharks find newer loopholes to make hay out of the TDR scheme? Read on to find out:
What is the TDR?
The TDR scheme is a method of reducing the government's cost of acquiring land for public projects such as building or widening roads, constructing metro/railway lines, etc. A person who parts with his/her land for a public project is given the TDR instead of monetary compensation. A TDR certificate relaxes several governmental restrictions on land development, such as zoning regulations, setback area rules, etc, and it can be transferred (=sold).
What's the scam in the TDR?
The TDR scheme isn't really known for transparency. Its opaque nature has facilitated a nexus between corrupt government officials and land sharks, resulting in a scam to the tune of hundreds of crores.
For example, owners could bribe officials to inflate the prices of their land and strike unscrupulous deals with developers. In most cases, there is an inordinate delay in issuing the TDR certificates. Currently, it takes four to five years for landowners to receive the TDR after their land has been acquired.
There are often discrepancies in the surveys carried out by planning and implementing agencies. The existing guidelines require that surveys are carried out by the project implementing agency - say BBMP or BMRCL - followed by the planning agency - BDA. This means beneficiaries have to run from pillar to post to get the TDR certificate.
In Bengaluru, the widening of Ballari and Jayamahal roads has been held up because of the issues with the TDR scheme.
What amendments have been proposed in the existing law?
The proposed amendments quicken the process of issuing the TDR by setting a 90-day time frame for issuing the documents. In addition, the government will scrap the multi-agency surveys before the TDR is issued. Towards this end, the state cabinet has approved ordinances to include sub-sections 4(I), 4(J) and 4(K) under section 14(B) and amend section 17 of the KTCP Act. The government is also evaluating whether the amendments would warrant the notification of a new set of rules for the TDR process.
What other measures have been proposed?
The government is looking to introduce the TDR in tier-II and tier-III cities and in rural parts of the state where lands are required for public projects. For this purpose, the government is planning to appoint district-level officers. A central monitoring system of the TDRs issued and sold is also in the works.
What are the shortcomings in the proposed amendments?
The TDR scheme, in itself, has received a very lukewarm response over the years as landowners prefer monetary compensation. Moreover, the documents and survey sketches issued by the implementing agency tend to vary from those available with the planning agency. There are fears that scrapping multi-agency surveys would only lead to more irregularities as the powers will be concentrated in a single agency. A second survey by a planning agency could detect the irregularities. Lastly, the ordinance route taken by the government to bring in the amendments has raised many an eyebrow.
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