Expedite disposal of ‘thika tenancy’ cases, says Hakim

Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim on Saturday directed his department’s principal secretary to take measures for quick disposal of pending ‘thika tenancies’ related with name transfer of legal heirs.

“There are two ways of provision of thika tenancy namely through the determination of the thika and transfer in the name of the legal heir. In the second case, the oath of the first class magistrates and councillor’s certificate is enough in the issuance of thika tenancy. However, 3,500 cases related to this issue is pending with the thika controllers for reasons better known to them. So, I have asked Khalil Ahmed, principal secretary of my department to take measures so that thikas of inherited properties are disposed of quickly. However, the living rights of the thika tenants should be ensured,” Mayor Firhad Hakim said in the backdrop of an issue being raised during the ‘Talk to Mayor’ programme.

The Mayor said that in case of determination of thika, particularly when there are disputed cases, the process is bound to take time.

He added that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was trying to identify city roads that can be christened in the name of famous personalities and freedom fighters of the country. The civic body has been flooded with such requests of naming city roads in the name of such famous personalities whose contributions to glorying the country or the state have been

significant.

“There are several roads in the city that are named after Ho Chi Minh, Lenin or Karl Marx. Even more than one road in the city has been named after them. I have great respect for these leaders and their contribution to world politics. But, I feel that in the context of the state, their contribution is nothing significant. On the contrary, there are not enough roads that are named after our freedom fighters, great politicians and personalities.”

The Mayor added: “We are still searching for a road that can be named after former President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The road renaming committee of the KMC is trying to find out roads that can be named after such personalities.”