Punjab CM clears Aerotropolis Residential Project extension to fund Rs 1k monthly incentive to women

The land for B, C and D blocks has been acquired, and the development work has been set in motion, but the development of Block A is hanging fire due to the land on which it is to be developed getting stuck in the alleged guava.

State government sources said that after refusing to sign the file for over a month, Mann finally signed it Wednesday last, giving clearance to extend the project.

It is learnt that the CM held a meeting with officials of the Chief Minister’s Office and the Housing Development Department on Wednesday noon and told them categorically that he would “not clear any file related to a housing project worth crores”, and sent them back. However, after a few hours, “he called officials again and cleared the file”.

According to sources, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had held a meeting with housing department officials and asked them to “work out a project to contribute to the state exchequer, enabling the state government to fulfil the monthly incentive promise made to the women of the state.

It was decided that the government would acquire an additional 3,400 acres through land pooling. “Land pooling is a profitable way of acquiring land. Under this arrangement, landowners will be given plots in the residential project for land acquired from them. Both parties will benefit from the arrangement as landowners get land which appreciates manifold after the residential project comes up. And to the government, it does not cost anything. This project will help the state earn money,” a government officer said.

The officer added that 1,700 acres had already been acquired through land pooling for A, B, C and D blocks. “The land acquisition will take time. After the acquisition, the government will auction plots and allottees will have to pay the GMADA in instalments. This way, the government is expecting to generate Rs 5,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal. This will help the government roll out the sop promised to women,” the officer added.

According to an estimate, the government needs around Rs 12,000 crore to pay Rs 1,000 incentives to all women voters in the state. “If they work out a system, excluding women paying income tax, they will not require Rs 12,000 crore. They can then pay women in the last year of their rule with a lesser amount of Rs 5,000 crore,” said another government officer.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Mann had promised to increase the financial assistance to women from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100. He said the proposal was on his table, but he couldn’t sign it with the election code in effect. He assured that he would sign it once the elections were over. However, the state’s financial situation did not permit him to provide the monthly incentive.

Earlier, Mann had not cleared a file related to the Eco City-III project.

Sources said the CM had told officials that he would not clear any housing project-related files where politicians had property in the area. At that time, Mann was holding the housing portfolio. However, Mann cleared the project after Hardeep Singh Mundian was handed over to the Housing Development Department.