Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh on Tuesday raised the issue of the Need-Based Policy concerning Low Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) flats in Mohali during the ongoing monsoon session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.Responding to the issues raised, Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian assured the Assembly that the Need-Based Policy would be implemented soon but did not provide a timeline. The MLA said around 50 years ago, when GMADA did not exist, the Housing Department had constructed LIG flats in Mohali. In nearly 10,000 of these flats, residents had constructed an additional room. Due to this additional construction, the owners are unable to obtain NOCs for these flats. As a result, they can neither sell nor mortgage their properties.Following the Chandigarh pattern, a policy was formulated in 2011. However, as the policy was stayed, a revised Need-Based Policy was introduced in 2015, under which a fee of Re 1 per square foot was to be charged for the additional construction carried out by residents. The policy was subsequently withdrawn, but no solution has been found to the issue to date. The department concerned informed that the matter was under consideration and that a committee has been constituted to look into it.Addressing Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan in the Assembly, Kulwant said committees were generally constituted when policy parameters had to be formulated. However, since a policy has already been framed in this regard, he questioned why there was a delay in implementing the Need-Based Policy. He further asked the minister concerned whether the Need-Based Policy issue would ever be resolved, whether the matter would actually move forward and, if so, by when could a decision be expected.Kulwant further asked Housing and Urban Development Minister Mundian whether the government was considering formulating a policy to permit construction of a first floor, in addition to the ground floor, on commercial booth sites allotted by GMADA in Phases 1 to 11 and Sectors 66 to 73 of Mohali. Importantly, permission for constructing a first floor is already available for booths allotted in other sectors and urban estates of Mohali. He sought to know whether such a policy was under consideration and, if so, by when it would be implemented.Additionally, the MLA asked whether the state government was considering a policy to partially regularise the additional construction carried out by owners of houses constructed and allotted by GMADA in Mohali, beyond the approved construction, under a Need-Based Policy.