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Realty sector needs more reforms to realise full potential

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Landmark reforms like RERA and GST, as also demonetization, have brought about much-needed transparency in transactions, helping the real estate sector to free itself of fraud, malpractices and other problems faced by consumers and investors. Yet, the sector needs more reforms to break free of the various ills that still plague it in order to realise its full potential as a major contributor to the country’s GDP.

The reform-oriented Narendra Modi government, which is fine-tuning and reinforcing the reforms undertaken by it to increase their on-ground efficacy, has its task cut out to free real estate from high transaction costs, especially to achieve the success of its flagship mission of “Housing for All”.

Though the interest subsidy scheme (CLSS) under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has proved to be a big boost for first-time home buyers in the EWS, LIG and MIG category, yet high transaction costs are a deterrent to home ownership. Currently, GST, stamp duty and registration costs act as a dampener. There is an average stamp duty of six percent and it is not uniform and is much higher in some states. Further, in many cities, there is the anomaly of collector rates of property being higher than the market rates.

As such, home buyers end up paying more stamp duty and registration fee. Home buyers need to be given freedom from high transaction costs to boost sales and revive residential real estate, facing a slowdown for long. And this can be achieved by either rationalising stamp duty or simply subsuming stamp duty in GST. Similarly, while GST has imporved ease of doing business by doing away with multiple taxation, there is still a need to lower its 12 per cent rate, which is almost double the VAT and Service
tax prevalent in pre-GST era, especially when Input Tax Credit provided by the government is not having the desired effect. Further, the high GST on cement should be brought down as in the case of paints, to bring down the cost of homes.

Home buyers also need freedom from the double burden of rent and EMI, particularly as hundreds of thousands of housing projects across the country are facing long delays. Earlier, the home buyers would get possession of their homes in 3-4 years but now, in many cases, it has almost doubled, causing great hardships to home buyers in terms of dual burden of rent and EMI. Some developers are helping home buyers tide over this problem by offering schemes to pay EMI only after possession. But ready homes is a sound solution to this problem as they do not have any development risk and, moreover, home buyers save on 12 per cent GST.

That’s why ready-to-occupy homes are being lapped up by home buyers. Here, the concept of “Build and Sell” can provide a long-term solution. Under RERA, a developer can’t start his project without land and all mandatory permissions in place. Also, there is not only a ban on funding projects through customer advances by way of pre-launching of projects but there is also a strict check on (mis)utilising funds collected from customers through the implementation of the escrow account mechanism.

As such, it makes sense for developers to adopt the “Build and Sell” model which is common in advanced countries. Leading developer DLF has already announced it would adopt this model. And, if the government organises cheap bank funding for at least developers of affordable housing, many of them will take to “Build and Sell”, to the advantage of property consumers.

Red-tapism is also proving to be a big bane of the real estate sector as the unduly long time taken by authorities in giving construction permits and other multiple sanctions adds the developers’ debt, in turn increasing home costs. And, since the sanctioning authorities do not come under the purview of RERA, there is no check on project delays due to the unduly long time taken in according project sanctions and giving completion certificates.

The ideal solution to this problem is a single window mechanism for project sanctions/clearances. Since this is not happening, the government should fast-track the process of online permissions/sanctions and make this time-bound.

Last but not the least, there should be freedom from defective and fraudulent land/property titles to make property transactions easier and safer. Thus, there is an urgent need to set up a Land Titling Authority in states to prepare and maintain a digitised registry of all immovable properties. This, together with introduction of Title Insurance for providing protection against any financial loss due to title deficiencies, will considerably help in enforcing contracts and prevent property deals from falling through, thereby effectively checking high litigation due to property ownership disputes.

The transparency brought in by this will further boost the confidence of foreign investors, thereby helping in putting foreign investment in Indian real estate on the fast track.

Hindu migrants from Pakistan living a life of homeless wanderers, courtesy Indian red-tapism

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At a time when the world is battling one of its biggest refugee crises, India has its own share of the problem — thousands of Hindu migrants from Pakistan remain stranded at this Rajasthan transit hub. They have been awaiting their citizenship papers for years, despite submitting their passports, documents and hard-earned money too.

Although the world observed International Refugee Day in June, these migrants continue to run from pillar to post to check their status as a callous Indian bureaucracy works at its own inefficient pace unmoved by their plight.

Wandering like a nomad, one of these migrants, Anumaal, told IANS: “Our lives have become deplorable since the time we came to India. The longing to be a part of this country forced me to come here. But since then, from the year 2000 in April, we have been making untiring efforts to get citizenship, but to no avail.”

“My son has completed his 12th, but he couldn’t get admission in any college as the authorities demand domicile certificates and other identity proof. Eventually, he started working as a labourer to ensure we don’t die of hunger. His future has become dark and the same will be the case with my other son who is pursuing his 12th. Eighteen years of running from here to there has failed to bring any result for us,” he lamented.

“In a camp organised in the year 2005, we missed submitting our certificate by a day. The officials asked us to come with a certificate but it being a Saturday, we reached on Monday and since then, our grievances remain unheard,” Anumaal added.

“We surrendered our passports, our forms were duly filled, and they asked us to come along with a certificate. However, when we reached on Monday, we were informed that we can’t be given citizenship as they had received fresh instructions from the government. Since then, we have been meeting district collectors… the home secretary too, but to no avail. We have exhausted all our savings to pay these officials. We have even borrowed money, which has now exhausted. Now we are asked to fill in fresh forms and deposit fresh fees. When asked about the money we had already deposited, the officials said its gone, so forget about it and make a fresh start.

“There are many people like me who are running around in distress. We were doing agriculture in Pakistan but here we are forced to work as labourers. Initially, during partition, we lost our ancestral land which was seized by residents of Pakistan. Most of the Hindus lost their lands at that time. Now this is the second time we are losing a lot. We were initially in Jaisalmer. However, we left the place a long time back because of the water crisis. It is an irony that people consider us as Pakistanis now, which is quite sad to hear,” he added.

Then there is Dr Rajkumar Sharma, who practises medicine and was whose citizenship was confirmed on June 17. He said, “We came to Jodhpur in 2004. Since then, we have been working hard to make a decent living. There are thousands like me who have come here, their passports have been submitted, but they are yet to get their citizenship. The major challenge for them is getting a long-term visa (LTV) which gets stuck in red tapism,” he added.

Sharma said that he, being educated, managed to earn his bread and butter. “But when I think of other people like me who have migrated, I have tears in my eyes. They are really suffering. People refuse to give them a house on rent or a job to earn considering them as Pakistanis. More than 1,000 people are awaiting their long-term visas,” he informed.

“I belonged to Sindh and came here as Muslims were not so kind to Hindus in Pakistan. Radicalism was growing and so was their influence. Although we had land there, we preferred coming here leaving everything as we knew that things might become challenging in the coming days for Hindus,” he said, adding: “Now, when I have got citizenship, I will try to clear the Medical Council of India examination so that I can start my practice here.”

Dr Hindu Singh Soda, an activist for Pakistani minorities living in India, said that the number of Total Registered Migrants (TRMs) at various FROs in Rajasthan is 13,623. Of them, 12,253 are at FRO Jodhpur alone. Of them, 3,408 were granted LTVs in 2017 while rest of the applications are still under process.

On paper, an LTV is supposed to be granted within 120 days of applying; but in almost all cases, these are not granted for many years, he said, adding that 965 migrants were permanently sent back to Pakistan in 2016 and 2017.

Soda said red-tapism is to be blamed for this situation. Also, the processing of LTVs needs to be hastened to ensure the migrants get justice in India — a land for which they have left everything in Pakistan, he added.

2 Pakistani soldiers killed on LoC

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The Indian Army said on Tuesday that two Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Monday, an Indian soldier was killed in the LoC’s Tangdhar sector in unprovoked firing from the Pakistani side.

Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told IANS: “The Indian Army responded to the unprovoked ceasefire violations and repeated attempts to facilitate infiltration by the Pakistan Army in Tangdhar.

“Our troops carried out calibrated operations last night in which two Pakistani soldiers were killed.”

I am married to Congress, says Rahul

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday remarked that he is married to the party.

He made the comment during an interaction with editors when he was asked about his marriage plans.

Gandhi, on a two-day visit to Hyderabad, said Narendra Modi will not become Prime Minister in 2019.

He predicted that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not even get 230 Lok Sabha seats and hence there was no question of Modi becoming Prime Minister again. The BJP tally would be cut primarily due to the alliance among non-BJP parties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The Congress President evaded a direct reply to a question on who would be the Prime Minister in the event of Congress and other non-BJP parties getting a majority. He merely said they would work it out.

Gandhi said the party’s state units were free to have alliances with like-minded parties. He was confident that the Congress would come to power in Telangana.

Asked about Andhra Pradesh, where Congress drew a blank in the 2014 polls, he said the party was improving its position.

He voiced concern over growing intolerance in the country. He said that minorities were feeling insecure.

He called for addressing the problems of farmers and providing employment to the unemployed. He said Modi had failed to fulfill his promise of providing two crore jobs annually.

“China provides employment to 50,000 people in 24 hours while in India only 458 people get employment during this duration,” he said.

Incessant rains cause landslides in Karnataka

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Torrential rains up to 30 cm lashed Karnataka’s coastal and south interior districts, causing landslides and disrupting normal life, officials said on Tuesday.

“Very heavy rainfall was received in the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada, along with heavy downpours in Malnad (south interior) districts of Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Shivamogga,” an official from the Bengaluru division of India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS.

Parts of Udupi received rainfall measuring as high as 30.1 cm, Dakshina Kannada 16.1 cm, Uttara Kannada 18.5 cm, Shivamogga 16 cm, Kodagu 19.4 cm and Chikkamagaluru 13.2 cm.

Few regions of Hassan district in the south interior region of the state received rainfall up to 24.5cm, according to the IMD.

Due to the unabated rains, landslides were reported across several parts, obstructing vehicular traffic.

A landslide at Sakleshpur sub-district in the Western Ghats mountains has obstructed the vehicular movement on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route.

The traffic along the highway between Madikeri in the Western Ghats range in Kodagu district to Mangaluru was also blocked, officials said.

Several schools and colleges in low-lying areas remained shut on Tuesday.

The rain water from the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin, which have been filled to their maximum capacity, is being released to avoid collapsing of the dams.

“Over 60,000 cusecs of rain water is being released from Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir across Cauvery river in Mandya district, and 40,000 cusecs from Kabini reservoir across Kabini in Mysuru district,” Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS.

The released reservoir water, along with incessant rains, have been flooding farmlands in low-lying towns and villages in the Cauvery basin.

Last week, another 80,000 cusecs of water was released from Kabini reservoir and 59,000 cusecs from KRS reservoir, forcing the district administration to shift people living in low-lying areas to safety.

With the Arabian Sea being rough with winds along the coast, the IMD has asked the fishermen not to venture into the sea.

“Due to strong winds along the Karnataka coast, sea condition is likely to be rough in the southwest and central Arabian sea. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the waters,” an advisory from the IMD said.

Heavy rains are likely to continue for the next three days, Reddy added.

Madras HC orders CBI probe into Tuticorin police firing

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The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the police firing in Tuticorin in which 13 people were killed on May 22. The victims were taking part in a protest against the Sterlite copper smelter plant.

The court also quashed the charges slapped against six protesters under the National Security Act for their role in the violence.

The copper smelter plant owned by Vedanta Ltd is located in Tuticorin around 650 km from here.

About 60 persons were injured in the police firing.

Earlier Chief Minister K. Palaniswami told the media that people in Tuticorin had been protesting peacefully for long against the company, alleging that it was causing health hazards and depleting the water table, but this time, the opposition and “anti-social elements” had turned the movement violent.

“It is because of this instigation that so many people have died. And we are really saddened by the deaths,” he said.

According to an FIR lodged by Tuticorin police, a Deputy Tehsildar has claimed that he had ordered police firing on May 22 against the anti-Sterlite Copper protesters.

The FIR filed by the police on May 22 says that Sekar, Deputy Tehsildar in Tuticorin, admitted that it was he who had ordered the police firing at the protesters after all the other steps to restore law and order failed.

As per the FIR, Sekar said he had at first warned the protesters that force would be used and when this did not work, he ordered a baton charge. When this proved inadequate and the crowd kept surging forward menacingly and attacked the police personnel, he had ordered the firing of tear gas shells after due warning.

The official said when tear gas shells failed to disperse the violent mob, which was destroying public property and attacking the police personnel near the Collectorate, he ordered firing as the last resort. Twelve persons were killed in police firing on May 22 and later one more person died in a fresh firing.

Government officer shot dead in Patna

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Unidentified assailants on Tuesday forced their way into a senior government officer’s residence here and shot him dead, police said.

Rajiv Kumar, Under Secretary in the Planning Department, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, the police said.

The officer’s wife told the police that a group of five armed youths forcibly entered their official house in the high security zone in the state capital. Kumar was shot when he resisted them, she said.

Alagiri targets Stalin – after Karunanidhi’s death

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Six days after the death of M. Karunanidhi, his elder son and former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri on Monday asserted that “true loyalists” of his late father were with him and that his brother M.K. Stalin was a poor leader.

Paying homage to Karunanidhi at his memorial at the Marina Beach here, Alagiri, who was expelled from the DMK in 2014 for criticizing party leaders, told reporters that he had poured his anguish about the party to his father.

He said his anguish was about the party and not about the family and the public would come to know the whole story at the appropriate time.

Alagiri declined to comment about the DMK’s Executive Committee meeting to be held here on Tuesday, stating that he was no more in the party.

Alagiri aspired to succeed to the DMK’s top post but Karunanidhi, the DMK President until his death, picked his other son Stalin to lead the party and designated him the Working President.

Once considered a strongman from Madurai, Alagiri told CNN News18 that he was the right person to head the DMK and alleged that Stalin was the “Working President” of the party but was not working.

Alagiri added that he was not happy with the way the party was being run. On being asked if there would be a split in the DMK, Alagiri replied how could he split the party when he was not in it in the first place.

Asked if he would do better than Stalin if given an opportunity, Alagiri told CNN: “Definitely, that is what the cadres also want.”

JNU scholar Umar Khalid targeted, escapes

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An unidentified man opened fire at controversial Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid outside the Constitution Club here on Monday but he escaped unhurt, police said.

The attack took place around 2.30 p.m. when Khalid was at a tea stall with friends.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma quoted Khalid as saying that he was attacked and that somebody pounced on him and pushed him.

“Thereafter he tried to fire at Khalid. But the person couldn’t fire immediately,” Verma said. “People started chasing him. Thereafter, according to Khalid, the attacker fired in the air.”

Another police officer said a pistol was recovered from the spot.

Khalid went to the Constitution Club to attend a “United Against Hate” programme. Police said CCTV cameras were being scrutinised to identify the attackers.

Khalid was rusticated and fined by JNU last month after he along with two other students — Kanhaiya Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya — were found guilty of raising anti-national slogans during a poetry-reading gathering inside the campus on February 9, 2016.

Jodhpur, Marwar cleanest stations: Railway Minister

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Jodhpur and Marwar railway stations in Rajasthan were declared the cleanest in the third cleanliness survey, released on Monday.

Releasing the cleanliness survey report, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said: “Jodhpur has emerged as the cleanest station in A1 station category. Last year, Vishakaptnam was at the first spot,” he said.

He said Rajasthan capital Jaipur is at number two and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh was placed at number three.

The Minister also said that in A category stations, Marwar in Rajasthan topped the list, followed by Phulera in Rajasthan at number two, and Warangal in Telangana at number three.

Goyal also said that the North Western Railway (NWR) topped the list as the cleanest zone.

“NWR was at the eighth spot last year. This year it topped the list, that shows how the team has worked tremendously in last one year,” Goyal said.

The South Central Railway (SCR) was declared the second cleanest zone. The SCR was at the fourth spot last year.

The East Coast Railway (ECR) was placed at the third spot in the cleanest zones.

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