L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 605
(b) if it is a fact that the areas covered by the Rent Control Order have been excluded from the operation of that Act; and
(c) whether the Honourable Member proposes to withdraw the Rent Control Order and advise Government to extend the application of the said Act lo those areas also ; if not, why not?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: (a) and (b) Yes.
(c) No. The Rent Control Order provides a speedy method of determining the fair rent of a house not provided for by the Punjab Act and I do not see any reason for withdrawing the Order.
- House Rent Control in Simla
† 232. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha : (a) Is the Honourable the Labour Member aware that in 1940 the rents of private properties in Simla were reduced considerably owing to the retention of the civil Departments of the Government of India in Delhi and that a large number of houses remained vacant or were leased on a nominal rent by the landlords concerned during the course of that year ? If so, do Government propose not to determine the rents for that year as basic rents under the Rent Control Order ?
(b) Is the Honourable Member aware that the cost of repairs has gone up very high and that the Punjab Government have imposed a new tax of 7 ½ per cent on the property under a new Act ?
(c) Are Government aware that the landlords in Simla are suffering financially from the restrictions imposed by the Government concerned in one way of the other ?
(d) Docs the Honourable Member propose to amend the House Control Order for Simla, so as to determine the rents for 1939 as basic rents plus 25 per cent on account of the increased cost of repairs or alternatively lo withdraw the Rent Control Order and to apply the Punjab Rent Restrictions Act instead ? If not, why not ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Rents at the beginning of 1940 were lower than in 1939 when landlords had raised rents to an unreasonably high figure. Houses were not, however, rented at nominal rents in 1940, and the Government of India considered that
- Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. I of 1943, 2nd March 1943, p. 662.
† Answer to this question laid on the table, the questioner being absent.