Two years after govt nod, NIT yet to give relief to 60,000 lease holders

Around 60,000 lease holders of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) plots and flats are yet to get the one time settlement (OTS) scheme for ground rent, though it was approved by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis two years ago. The citizens continue to pay NIT’s ground rent as well as property tax to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) due to the civic agency’s mistake. Shockingly, NIT officials are totally unaware of the scheme approved by the state government. One of the officials told TOI the scheme was yet to be approved by the government. Another official said the file related to the scheme was being traced. A third official said he was totally unaware of the scheme. “Many officials have either moved to Metro Rail or Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA), so the officials and employees looking after ground rent have no idea about the scheme,” he said. Even NIT trustee and BJP corporator Bhushan Shingane said the proposal was pending before the state’s urban development department (UDD). “NIT board had passed the scheme and submitted it to the government for its consent, which would have been followed by its implementation,” he said.