This was disclosed to Express Newsline by Minister of State for Housing Raj Purohit after his address to a meeting of tenants organised by the Bombay Catholic Sabha on the proposed Rent Act today.

Although there were few people staying as tenants since 1987 compared to lakhs who have rented premises before, the fear of eviction loomed large ever since it was reported that the new Rent Act will not be applicable to the former. The new proposal if passed by the Assembly would be welcome relief for such tenants.

Recently around 500 post-1987 tenants in the Juhu Vile-Parle Development (JVPD) scheme had submitted a memorandum to the Housing Minister seeking protection under the Rent Act since theyhad already paid up pugree amounts totalling crores of rupees at the then prevailing market rate.

Admitting to the problem plaguing the rental stock, Purohit gave the aggrieved tenants a piece of advice. ``Remain united if you wished to succeed in your efforts to form a cooperative society and reconstruct the building you occupy,'' he stated.

Moves on legalising pugree, he said, was aimed at reducing harassment of tenants by landlords and increasing the circulation of white money. However, he admitted that even he was neither aware nor had been able to think of ways to calculate the amount of pugree.

According to the Minister, most landlords resorted to `divide and rule' strategy with their tenants and succeeded in thwarting efforts to join hands in protest. ``For one tenant rents were increased at a time by merging the basic rent and the repair cess and then demanding additional BMC taxes,'' explained Purohit to an overcrowded hall at Our Lady of Dolours High school.

The minister also informedthat the proposed Rent Act would make it compulsory for landlords to provide break-up of rent components in the rent receipts. Many tenants complained to the Minister that their landlords never gave any breakup of the bill.

There was more to please the tenants. Purohit assured that inheritance rights would be protected in the new Act and any transfer of premises will have to be regularised by the landlord.

Replying to a query by a tenant of a building in south Mumbai, Dominic Fernandes, on the justification for increase in rent twice in the past four years, Purohit said a police complaint should be lodged against the landlord since the hike was legally wrong.

The Minister has scheduled another meeting with tenants next month to clarify all doubts regarding reconstruction of old cessed buildings. Senior officials of the Repair and Reconstruction Board will also be called to face the residents of these buildings.