Vadodara eliminates middlemen in construction permissions

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is clearly on a mission – to clean the middlemen, bring in transparency and clear approvals. While middlemen operating in the construction industry, especially to seek permissions for projects, are a common scenario, VMC has taken a decision to hold open houses to handle such cases. Cases include files of various works like building permission, plinth check, completion certificate and occupation certificate that have been piled up at the civic body since quite some time now. And, the success of this decision is evident in facts – 145 files have been cleared within an hour in the first open house held. Also, the corporation has given 80 building permissions, 36 plinth check certificates and 29 completion as well as occupation certificates on the day. The corporation has reportedly said that such open houses will now be held every Monday between 12 pm and 1 pm at the civic body. They want to ensure that middlemen are eliminated in the entire process to bring in transparency in this sector. That said, representatives, which include the architects or contractors will not be allowed to accompany the original property owner. In an exceptional scenario, if the original owners are not able to attend, their immediate relatives can represent them. In case of partnership firms, one of the partners will have to be present. Going forward in the near future, this process will be put online, making it convenient for the applicants to monitor the same.