STATUS of INQUIRY INTO LAND SCAM in ODISHA

A Public Review of Inquiry into land scam by Govt. of Odisha

• No enquiry conducted  so far , though  six months  have passed  since submission of  Task Force Report
• Not a single land arbitrarily allotted or allotted under discretionary quota has been resumed.
• Not a single man  who has illegally taken  single land or  multiple  plot   by filling false  affidavit  or  providing false  information  has  been arrested.
• List  of  plots/ lands  allotted  by GA, BDA, CDA, Odisha State Housing Board   allotted  during pre-1995  and post-1995  till 2014  has not been prepared  till yet.
• Finance Dept. is yet  to start  special audit  into allotment  of  land
• GA (Vigilance)  is yet  to start  enquiry  into  land scam.
• The whole enquiry process followed by Govt. is farce ad designed to buy time to cover up the scam.

After CAG expose on huge irregularities and illegalities   in respect of allotment of land by General Administration, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, and Cuttack Development Authority  in June 2014, the political parties and  Civil Society Groups  demanded  CBI enquiry  into  it  by organising demonstration, Dharana, rally  in Bhubaneswar. Being pressurised,  on 02.08.14, the State Govt.  constituted  a Task Force  under the chairmanship of Dr. Taradatt, Addl. Chief Secretary to submit the  report after  thorough study  into alleged irregularities  into allotment of land/plot  by BDA, CDA, Housing Board and GA.  The task Force produced the report to Chief Minister on 03.11.14.  The Govt.  in its cabinet meeting  held  on 18.12.14  passed resolution  accepting all the recommendations given by  Task Force and  produced  Action  Taken Report.  But the ATR was notified on 31.1.2015. 

Though around 10 months have passed since submission of CAG report, the State Govt. has not recovered a single land nor taken any action against the culprits.  The details of Task Force Report, its recommendations,  Govt. ATR and follow up activities of the Govt. is as follows.

Sl.	Recommendation of task Force Report presented to Govt. on	Action Taken Report presented by Govt. o 18.12.14	Notification with regard to ATR issued by Govt. on 31.1.15	Action taken by Govt. within 6 moths
1	All plots allotted under discretionary quota should be resumed, if the allottees have failed to construct houses within the stipulated five years.	Finance Department will conduct a special audit to find out the actual number of discretionary allotments made after 01.01.1995 including those not placed before the Task Force	Finance Dept. will conduct special audit of all allotments  made after 1.11995  which have been made  o the basis of applications received from time to time  under various schemes of NDA, CDA and Housing Board  and it will conduct a special audit to find out the actual number of discretionary allotments made after 01.01.1995 including those not placed before the Task Force	No step  has been taken so far
2	BDA, CDA, OSHB and GA Department should take up another exercise to obtain comprehensive details including the allotments made prior to 1.1.1995 to know the exact extent of individuals and families who have taken undue benefit of multiple allotments against the schematic provisions.	BDA/OSHB and General Administration Department will examine the allotments made prior to 01.01.1995 at Bhubaneswar to determine the exact list of allottees who have availed the irregular benefit of more than one allotment of land/flat/house against the specific schematicprovisions. CDA and OSHB will undertake a similar exercise for Cuttack urban area. This exercise will be completed within six months.	BDA/OSHB and GA  Department will examine the allotments made prior to 01.01.1995 at Bhubaneswar to determine the exact list of allottees who have availed the irregular benefit of more than one allotment of land/flat/house against the specific schematicprovisions. CDA and OSHB will undertake a similar exercise for Cuttack urban area. This exercise will be completed within six months.	No details of allotment  of land/ plot prior to 1995  has been prepared
3	All allotments made before the launch of the schemes and before last date fixed for the receipt of applications should be cancelled.	G.A. (Vigilance) Department may enquire into those cases of multiple allotments to individuals/families where such allotments have been made on the basis of false affidavits or misleading information in violation of specific schematic provision and initiate appropriate criminal action.	G.A. (Vigilance) Department may enquire into those cases of multiple allotments to individuals/families where such allotments have been made on the basis of false affidavits or misleading information in violation of specific schematic provision and initiate appropriate criminal action.	No step has been taken so far.
4	Allotments made under discretionary quota by the Minister, H & UD from 22.2.1999 to 17.5.2004 are illegal and void ab initio and may be cancelled since the notifications of appointment of Minister of State( Independent Charge) as Chairman, BDA and CDA were not revised and the Ministers concerned had not been appointed as Chairpersons of the concerned Authorities under the relevant laws and rules.	Government notification of the Minister, H & UD as Chairman, BDA and CDA will be examined in consultation with the Advocate General, Odisha	Government notification of the Minister, H & UD as Chairman, BDA and CDA will be examined in consultation with the Advocate General, Odisha	Nothing has happened
5	All discretionary allotments made after 1.1.1995 should be Cancelled. Further verification should be made to quantify the size of discretionary allotment.	All allotments of plot/house/flat under discretionary quota by the BDA, CDA and OSHB under different schemes after 1.1.1995 including their pre and post-possession transfers be cancelled and the plots/houses/flats are resumed to the concerned authorities.	All allotments of plot/house/flat under discretionary quota by the BDA, CDA and OSHB under different schemes after 1.1.1995 including their pre and post-possession transfers be cancelled and the plots/houses/flats are resumed to the concerned authorities	Not a single land allotted under discretionary quota has been cancelled.
6	All pre-possession transfers except in the event of death of the allottee should be cancelled and responsibility on officials should be fixed.			The Govt. is silent on it
7	As regards post-possession transfers, such transfers by discretionary quota allotees and multiple allottees should also be cancelled (except in case of allottees getting only one plot/house/flat through fair means and by following prescribed procedure for such transfer).	In case of multiple allotments, the additional units allotted to ineligible individual/families as pointed out by the Task Force in its report be cancelled and resumed to the concerned authorities.	BDA, CDA, OSHB and GA should cancel multiple allotments, additional units allotted  to ineligible individuals/ families and resume the same to the concerned authorities	No step has been taken till yet.
8	Recovery may be made from allottees who have disposed their allotted property under discretionary quota and have succeeded in getting further allotment.	ATR  is silent on it	Silent on it.	The Govt. inaction is quite visible
9	Allotment without evident publicity or by notifying the scheme only on the Office Notice Board needs to be cancelled.	ATR  is silent on it		The Govt. inaction is quite visible.
10	Applications of late entrants should be scrutinized and action taken for realization of costs or cancellation of allotment.	ATR  is silent on it		The Govt. inaction is quite visible.
11	Land meant for housing but allotted otherwise and land given for institutional purpose, but used for housing or otherwise should also be resumed.	ATR  is silent on it		The Govt. is silent on it
12		The modalities of implementation of the report in a time bound manner will be worked out in consultation with the Law Department and the Advocate General. This whole exercise will be  completed within ninety days.	The modalities of implementation of the report in a time bound manner will be worked out in consultation with the Law Department and the Advocate General. This whole exercise will be  completed within ninety days.	The modalities  has been prepared  i the first week of may 2015.  but yet  to be adopted.

Prepared by Pradip Pradhan

On behalf of 30 Social Action Groups leading campaign  against land scam  in Odisha

M-9937843482, Date- 15.05.2015