Pics by: Justin D'Silva
Daijiworld Media Network- Udupi (JD)
Udupi. Mar 17: "Udupi is full of corrupt officials and they will never allow Udupi to develop," alleged Dr Jerry Vincent Dias, President, CREDAI, coming down heavily on the prevalent corruption in the district.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, March 18, called to highlight the difficulties faced by the real estate sector here, Dr Jerry Vincent Dias said, "The raw material prices have increased drastically. This has caused much delay in the completion of ongoing projects as well the launch of new ones. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched programs to provide housing for all but in the current scenario, it is too difficult for the builders to survive. We are ready to fulfill the housing for all dream project by the prime minister but the government should also support us."
"RERA was brought in to ease the business but it has not made any progress in the past years but it is not taking any strict actions against those violating the norms. Buyers should check about the RERA registration and other legalities of a developer before buying. The bribing in government offices has also increased drastically. Bribe has become legal in India now. We had donated computers and other furniture to the Udupi sub-registrar office but today even we are not given proper service there. The scenario of the sub-registrar office is the worst. We had appealed to the MLA for setting up another sub-registrar office but it was refused by the current sub-registrar officials.We have to wait atleast for 21 days after taking tokens for registration. This time gap has caused much loss as our clients would not be able to wait for such a long time", he lamented.
Dr Jerry further said, "Currently the government charges 6.7% on stamp duty and registration on agreement amount. If this is reduced to 3% it will benefit the end users. To ride over the present steel and cement price hike, government should consider restricting the export of these products till the prices stabilize."
CREDAI members also appealed to the government for two sub -registrar offices in Udupi taluk. Currently there is only one sub-registrar office and it is already overcrowded. Builders are made to book tokens 21 days in advance. There is an acute shortage of systems in the SRO office.
Speaking on the difficulties faced, Manohar Shetty, vice president, CREDAI Udupi. said, "We are paying crores of rupees as tax to the government. But there is an acute shortage of staff in government offices. The government should consider setting up two sub registrar offices for Urban and rural respectively for the ease of business. In a few states the registration is being done at the lawyer offices. Government should consider this as another means of reducing the dependency on the registration office. In cities like Mumbai, the sub-registrar office staff work on shift basis- the first shift is from 7 AM to 1 PM and the second shift from 2 PM to 8 PM. This has brought many positive changes. This will also provide employment opportunities. There are only three appointed staff in the Udupi sub-registrar office. All the other staff are earning their income from the bribe amounts. By just setting up two to three computers the issue can be resolved."
Amith Nayak of Archana Projects said, "Cement, which is a very basic building material, has been under the 28% slab under the GST. This has caused much burden on the builders and developers. It would be a boon for the industry if the cement is brought under the 12% GST slab. The pandemic and war have been easy reasons for the rising prices. Government should interfere immediately and regulate the prices of raw materials."
Joyan John Lewis, Secretary CREDAI and other members of the organisation were present during the press meet.