House alert

Fri, May 16 02:37 AM

Should a house buyer be denied compensation by a builder for delay in delivery of the property, especially on the grounds that no such compensation is necessary since the valuation of property has gone up because of this delay? The National Consumer Commission replied to this question in the negative in a recent case and asked the builder to pay due compensation, apart from a hefty penalty for mistreating the house buyer.

This landmark judgment will go a long way in protecting the interests of numerous home buyers in the country, who are finally able to purchase a shelter of their own following the economic boom of the recent years. However, the consequential real estate boom gave birth to scores of unscrupulous builders, whose primary source of funding has been the advance booking amounts from unsuspecting buyers, and who invariably end up delaying delivery of houses - sometimes for years - due to a shortage of funds.

The government has taken little action against this practice, which has almost reached the proportions of a mini scam. A consumer education drive can be launched, encouraging the aggrieved buyers to book complaints against their errant builders. Most of the builders are purchasing additional land from the money which they receive from consumers for any project and then they delay the project. The government should come down heavily on such builders or real estate developers.

Speaking of Raj

Raj Thackeray's campaign for renaming some famous Mumbai institutions is political activism at its juvenile worst. However, this is still a minor offence when compared to his provocative outbursts that encourage attacks against migrants - especially north Indians in Mumbai. His targets for physical assault are the poorest of people - who neither have a political voice nor any support.

Taking pride in the city that you belong to is unobjectionable, but forcing it down the throat of others or using this pride as a stick to beat the poor and helpless is wholly uncalled for. And just what does he hope to accomplish by renaming Bombay Stock Exchange as Mumbai Stock Exchange? Agreed Mumbai has its share of problems, but they cannot be washed away by holding non-Mumbaikars responsible for all of them, or by evicting them. No major city in the world can sustain itself by closing its doors to outsiders.

Raj's obsession with son-of-the-soil politics reeks of desperation. By directing his goons to attack outsiders, he is only going to earn the ire of the average Mumbaikar who lives, eats and goes to work with these very outsiders every single day. As for the principle of it, he should learn to practice it firsthand and shift base to Konkan, since he is a Konkani and not a Mumbaikar in the first place.

Pakistan first

Pakistan's latest experiment with democracy is already in dire straits, following Nawaz Sharif's withdrawal of his party's support to the six-week old coalition government. Locking horns with coalition partner PPP - over the reinstatement of judges - Sharif has chosen a remarkably trivial issue to jeopardise the stability of the fledgling government.

His assurance to support the PPP from outside comes as little consolation, for another confrontation could bring about the downfall of the government. Sharif could have acted with far more maturity. At the same time, the failure of PPP's leader Asif Zardari to carry his minority partner together even for two months hints at absolute political disregard for sustaining democratic governance in the country.

Zardari and Sharif need to realise that this is a rare opportunity for them to take charge of their country's political future. Politics aside, they have much to contribute to save Pakistan from falling apart, as the country faces crippling issues of terrorism, fundamentalism, and near-economic bankruptcy. The world is eager to declare Pakistan a failed state and in choosing to run the country's first democratic government in over a decade, Zardari and Sharif equally share the burden of saving their country from this dire fate.

The writer is a Congress MP in Rajya Sabha

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