No community halls without licence: DDA

NEW DELHI: Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has revised the law for allotment of community halls to people, after numerous complaints about misuse of such places.

The Authority will not give any community hall without the license of the organisation. DDA has also categorised which organisations can get such halls. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who also is the chairman of DDA, approved the proposal for the new law.

"Some organisations had misused community halls allotted to them, in violation of the provisions, and their allotments had been cancelled," a DDA official said. He added that these places are not for personal uses like marriage but for official meetings or exhibitions, seminars, etc.

"The public notification had been issued on the proposed revised policy for allotment and comments/suggestions invited from the public," he added.

As per the revised policy, community halls within boundaries of housings would be preferably allotted to resident welfare associations (RWA) of the specific area, if the cost of construction is shared by the allottees. However, if the RWA is not willing, these would be allotted to other applicants on a licence fee basis.

Instead of NGOs, registered societies like government, semi-government, autonomous bodies actively involved in social activities in the area would be eligible for allotment.

DDA officials also described that an evaluation criterion has been incorporated in case there is more than one RWA in an area.

The community halls would be allotted on a licence for a period of three years, which can be extended for a further period of up to two years. New activities like skill development or any other welfare activities have been added, in addition to the existing activities of a reading room and library among others.

Applicants should be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and would have to get them registered with DDA. The licence fees payable for community halls, built on plots of up to 1,000 sqm, would be Rs 2,000 per month – if they are not air-conditioned – and Rs 4,000 per month for air-conditioned community halls.

The Authority observed that the new laws will help in development of the areas and to conduct many developmental programs. It also added that this will also help NGOs and RWAs to conduct various programs for the people.