DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Monday that people living in the houses within the 'Lal Lakir' of villages and cities will be given property rights. Channi renamed the 'Mission Lal Lakir' scheme as 'Mera Ghar Mere Naam'. "People who are living within the 'Lal Lakir' in villages and cities do not have ownership rights. We have decided to confer the ownership rights on the people who have been living in these areas," he said after chairing a cabinet meeting here. 'Lal Lakir' refers to the land that is part of the village 'abadi' (habitation) and is used for non-agricultural purposes. With this move, the dwellers will be able to monetise their property rights by availing loans from banks, etc. Addressing the media here, Channi said the Revenue Department has been mandated to undertake drone surveys of such residential properties both in rural and urban areas for digital mapping. Subsequently, all the eligible residents after proper verification would be given property cards to confer proprietary rights upon them, he said. The beneficiaries would be given a time of 15 days to file their objections in this regard and in case no reply is received from them, the property card would be issued which would serve the purpose of registry against which they can get loans from the banks or even sell their properties thus enhancing its monetary value. Earlier, this scheme was limited only to the residents of villages, but now it also covers the eligible residents of cities within the 'Lal Lakir'. Channi said the people residing in the houses in old localities (mohallas) generation after generation would also be covered under the scheme. The chief minister also pointed out that even the NRIs, who had occupied such residential properties in villages or cities would also be duly informed to raise objections to give proprietary rights to them. He said his government would soon bring legislation in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to safeguard the properties of NRIs settled across the globe. Channi also announced that an entry into the revenue records would be made to safeguard the agricultural land owned by the NRIs in order to prevent illegal sale of properties by certain unscrupulous elements. On the issue of waiving arrears of electricity bills upto 2 kW load, the chief minister said anyone regardless of caste, creed and religion would get the benefit of waiver. He said out of 72 lakh consumers, nearly 52 lakh across the state would be benefitted. Channi also clarified that only those arrears mentioned in the last bill received by the consumer would be waived. Last month, the state government had announced to waive power bills of those having electricity connection of up to 2 kW. (editor@dailyworld.in)