Rupeed Four Crores pending against Unauthorised Occupants

Four Crores pending against Unauthorised Occupants of Govt. quarters in Bhubaneswar, Capital of Odisha

Housing is a major problem in Bhubaneswar. In order to ensure housing of its employees, the State Govt.  has made a policy of providing Govt. quarters  to  accommodate all category of officers  employees  in the capital.  But due to absence of adequate quarters, many Govt. employees are not getting quarters, though they are entitled to get it. But astonishingly, a large number of retired Govt. employees have occupied Govt.  quarters unauthorisedly and illegally   for years together due to their nexus with top officials causing huge revenue loss to state exchequer.  The State Govt. has not taken any steps to vacate the quarters.

On 22.6.17, I had filed RTI Application to the PIO, Dept. of GA & PG( Rent), Govt. of Odisha  seeking  information about details of  quarters unauthorisedly occupied  by  ex-Govt. employees, former MLAs, Individuals, Govt. employees  and pending of rent amount  against them.  On 3.7.17, the PIO has provided the following information.

1.       Total No. of 181 of ex-employees, officers and Govt. employees have illegally occupied Govt. quarters in Bhubaneswar. Total amount of 4,07,43,524.00 of  quarter rent   is pending against them.   

2.       Most of the ex-Govt employees, though they have got retired have been unauthorisedly occupying Govt. quarters since 2010 without paying a singly pie towards rent of Quarter.

3.       3. Most of the ex- employees who have illegally occupied  Govt. quarters are   officers in the rank of Section officer, Deputy Director,  under secretary, additional secretary, , Zamadar, police officers, Junior clerck, Pump driver, peon etc.

4.       Prominent ex-employees and officers who have occupied Govt. quarters are as follows.

Name	Details of quarters			Date of Cancellation	Amount pending (Rs.)
	Qr.No.	Type	Unit
Manguli Ch. Kissan, Retd. F.A. & C.A.O. & PG ( Arbo), Dept.	6	B	N.A.	2014	5,54,427.00
Govinda Ch. Mohanty, Retd. S.O., Home Department	2/4	VA	II	1.2.2000	12,60,412.00
Srikanta Kabi, Retd. Addl. Secretary, Finance Dept.	29	4RF	IX	1.8.2015	2,71,238.00
Sadanamda Kuar, PA., Director of Ground Water Survey and Inv	7/2	D	VIII	1.10.2011	5,81,337.00
Ramesh Ch. Rout, Retd. Sr. Asst. Chief Engineer, RWSS, Bhubaneswar
Santanu Kumar Mohanty, Retd. Additional Secretary, Cooperation Dept.	4/1	4R	III	1.3.2011	3,79,754.00
Nrusingha Charan Rout, OFS (SB), Retd. Chief Accounts officer, BMC, Bhubaeswar	8/4	VA	II	1.5.2012	5,05,507.00
Smt. Kokila Naik, retd. Sweeper, G.A.  Dept.	19	G	VIII	2013	1,17,052.00
Prafulla Kumar Muni, Retd. Section Officer,  G.A. (Rent) Dept.	47/2	IVA	II	2013	2,50,982.00
Subash Ch. Mallik, Retd. Desk Officer, G.A. Dept.	7/7	2RAF	K.A.	2012	2,44,421.00
Batakrustan Chinra, Retd. Medical officer, Ayurvedic Hospital, Bhubaneswar	104	D	M.A.	1.6.2009	8,15,506.00
Khestrabasi Prusty, Retd. D.O., R&DM Department	39/4	IVB	III	1.4.2010	5,07,046.00
Sankar Mallick, Retd. Deputy Secretary, PR Dept	18/2	IVA	II	2016	1,19,844.00
Laxmidhar Nayak, retd. Asst. CEO-cum- Under Secretary, Home (election) Dept.	142	IVR	VI	2011	4,16,689.00
Jagannath Sethy, Retd. E.O. O/O-Director of Secondary Education, Bhubaneswar	74	E	VIII	1.6.11	4,22,778.00
Smt. Manjulata Mohanty, Retd. Asst. Teacher, D.I.of School, Bhubaneswar	17/1	2RA(F)	IX	1.10.2009	3,47,935.00
Bubhuti Bhusan Das, Retd. Asst. Teacher, D.I.of School, Bhubaneswar	38	E	N.A.	1.9.2012	3,33,077.00
Prasant Kumar Kanungo, retd. Sr. Steno, O/O Director of Export  promotion and Marketing, Bhubaneswar	13	E	VIII	1.1.2014	2,35,835.00
Manoj Kumar Nayak, Retd. Desk Officer, Dept. of Higher education	42/4	E	IX(F)	30.6.2012	3,49,035.00
Rama Sankar Behera, Retd. Dy-cum-Dy. Secretary, I and PR Dept.	5/1	D	IX	1.6.2014	2,12,658.00

5.       .  List of Ex-MLAs who are in unauthorised  occupation of Govt. quarters   

Sl. No.	Name	Quarter Details			Date of Cancellation	Amount pending ( Rs.)
		No.	Type	Unit
1	Surendra Nayak, Ex-MLA,	4	VIIIMR	V	4.7.2014	7,89,509.00
2	Smt. Sarojini Hembram, Ex-MLA	4	VIMR	VI	28.4.2014	9307.00
3	Pradeepta Ku. Nayak	6/3	MLA D/S	IV	29.5.2009	7,96,998.00
4	Rama h. Hansda, Ex-MLA	12/2	MLA D/S	IV	31.5.2014	2,98,638.00
5	Rajenda Dolkia, Ex-MLA	16/3	MLA D/S	IV	31.5.2014	33,148.00
6	Pratap Ch. Sarangi, Ex-MLA	7/2	MLA(F)	IV	31.5.2014	2,98,398.00

6.       List of quarters in Bhubaneswar which has been illegally and unauthorisedly occupied by the Individuals.

Sl. No.	Name	Quarter Details			Date of Cancellation	Amount pending ( Rs.)
		No.	Type	Unit
1	Family members  of Late P.R.Shastry, Ex- Special Correspondent, Odisha Times	38/3	IV	1	2012	,86,910.00
2	Family members of late R.N.Mohanty, Ex-Freelance Journalist	3/2	VIDS	II	2011	4,20,935.00
3	Family Member of Late Barendra  Krustan Dhal, Ex-orrespondent, AAJ Kal	11/4	VA	II	2016	16,544.00

7.       Total no. of 66  officers  and employees  who have been transferred  to other  districts   but  still   unauthorisedly  occupying Govt. quarters   in Bhubaneswar  without paying  rent for years together causing revenue loss of  Rs. 45 lakhs .  Few of them are as follows.

Sl. No.	Name	Quarter Details			Date of Cancellation	Amount pending ( Rs.)
		No.	Type	Unit
1	Akshaya Mohanty, OAS(SB), Ex-Dy. Secretary, Lavour and Employment Deptt. Govt. of Odisha	70	C	VIII	1.4.2012	,64,706.00
2	Dillip Kumar Mohanty, Ex-Inspector, office of SP, Khurda	56	D	NA	28.7.2002	11,80,750.00
3	Dhiren Kumar Patnaik,  Ex-ASI of Police, S.P. Khurda	225	F	NA	1.4.2008	4,24,410.00
4	Sarat Ch.Patra, Ex-S.I. Of police, O/O-SP, Khurda	2	2RB	IX	1.4.2008	6,15,405.00
5	Nanda Kishor Swain, Ex-Constable, 0/O- SP, Khurda	7/6	T	CRP	1.4.2008	4,24,410.00
6	Gourishankar Das, D.S.P., O/o- S.P., Khurda	9/3	D2	SSA	1.4.2008	8,70,135.00
7	Jogendra Badjena, O/o-SP, khurda	10/5	2RA	VIII	1.4.2008	4,24,410.00
8	Pradipta Kumar Sahani, Ex-Asst. Commissioner of Police, Police Commissionerate	15/3	VA	II	20.8.2012	4,72,359.00
9	Ramanath Mishra, Ex-Deputy  Controller, Civil Defence	3/5	3RF	KA	1.6.2014	7,45,990.00
10	Sarat Kumar Swain, ex- FPSI, Police Commissionerate	12/2	3RF	KA	2.10.2013	3,64,628.00
11	Rabi Sankar Behera, Ex-Jr. Clerck, 0/0  the Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, BBSR	71	2RA	IX	2.9.2000	6,17,547.00
12	Ranjit Majhi, ex- Addl. Commercial Tax Officer, Koraput	12/3	E	IX	1.6.2011	4,40,182.00
13	Smt. Snehanjali Patnaik, Ex-Hindi Teacher, Govt. Boys High School, Unit-VIII, BBSR	56/5	2RBF	IX	8.1.2006	7,08,584.00
14	Trinath Patel, Ex- DSP, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar Division, BBSR	4/2	VIB	III	8.1.2016	1,32,592.00
15	Nrupa Dandsena, Ex- ACP, Police Commissionerate, Bhubaneswar	36	D	NA	9.5.2014	3,06,619.00
16	Prafulla Kumar Singh, Ex-Asst. Comdt. OSAP 7TH Bn. Bhubaneswar	116	D	MA	20.11.16	57,445.00

Pradip Pradhan, M-9937843482

Date- 8.7.17  

Govt. of Odisha maintains utmost secrecy on Ghangapatna Land Scam

 Govt.  of Odisha maintains utmost secrecy on Ghangapatna Land Scam, Information Commission directs  Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar  to produce the information within 7 days

Dear friends

In a significant development, on 14.7.17., Mrs. Sashi Prava Bindhani, State Information Commissioner directed to Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar to produce all the information about Ghangapatna land to the Appellant within 7 days.  This direction came out following hearing of Second Appeal petition                No.  284/15 by the Commission.  Mrs. Bindhani  has also  given direction  to  the PIOs, Dept. of Revenue and Disaster Management and Office of Collector, Khurda  to produce detailed report  about   details of follow up action taken by them  to ensure information.  The date for next hearing was fixed  on 16.8.17.

A brief History  of the Case

In August, 2014,   it  was exposed  by  the local people and media that  huge acres of tribal was  illegally  acquired  by  late Kalpataru Das and his MLA Son Pranab Balabantaray  and Sri K.V.Singhdeo, BJP MLA in name of her daughter and many powerful people  connected  with BJD party  in Ghangapatana  area of Bhubaneswar  under jurisdiction of Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar.  After this expose , all the opposition political parties and Civil Society Groups  coming to the streets  organised  protest   dharana demanding CBI inquiry  into scam.  It is popularly  known as Ghangapatna land Scam in Odisha.   In the midst of protest, Chief Minister ordered  for  Crime Branch enquiry  and  after few days  the Govt. declared  that  70 acres of  land  of Ghangapatna returned  back to Govt. fold.

To  verify the authenticity of  information, RTI Application dt. 17.9.14 was submitted  to the PIO,  Office of Revenue and Disaster Management, Govt. of Odisha, Bhubaneswar   seeking information about details of  Ghangapatana land  returned back by Govt.  Though 30 days passed, the PIO did not supply   the information. Then, on 31.1.2.14,  I made first appeal to the First Appellate Authority  to hear the case and provide the information. Though 30 days passed, the FAA neither heard the case nor provided the information.  Then, Second Appeal  was filed  to Odisha Information  Commission  seeking  information  and penalty  against PIO under section 20 (1) of the RTI Act.

Pradip Pradhan

M-9937843482

Date-15.7.17

Odisha Bureaucrats acting as Pussy Cat of KIIT

Collector, Khurda and Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar are   acting as Pussy Cat of Dr. Achyut Samant, founder KIIT (exposed under RTI)

Dear friends

As aware you are,    while hearing Application No. 92/2016/EZ filed in National Green Tribunal, Kolkatta by Dr. Subash Mohapatra, Human Rights Activist  seeking  direct to restore  18 acres of forest land illegally acquired  by KIIT/KISS  to Govt. fold , NGT  issued  direction  dt. 21.3.17 to Secretary, Dept. of Revenue and Disaster Management and Dept. of Forest and Environment, Govt. of Odisha  to demarcate  the land in question and undertake fencing around the land and fixed   18^th May for next hearing.

Astonishingly, on 18.5.17, during hearing of the case, the State Govt. neither filed any affidavit nor produced Action Taken Report.  On third hearing dated 5.7.17, the State Govt. has again sought one month time to submit ATR.  The next hearing will be held in August 2017.

However, to understand  about steps  taken by State Govt on direction of NGT  to return back forest land illegally acquired  by KIIT/KISS,  RTI Application  dt. 20.4.17 was  filed  to the PIO,    Dept. of Revenue and Disaster Management seeking  information about Action taken on order of National Green Tribunal in Case No. 92/2016/EZ of Subash Mohapatra vs Govt. of Odisha & other on KIIT/KISS land issue by Collector, Khurda.  RTI Application was transferred to the PIO, Office of the Collector, Khurda who has transferred the said application to the PIO, Office of Tahasildar, Khurda to produce Action Taken Report. Though two months passed, the PIO has not supplied  any information.

But, the PIO, Dept. of R&DM has provided some information how the Collector, Khurda does not care to respond the series of letter sent by R&DM dept.  It was found from extract of file noting dt. 22.4.17 that the Revenue and Disaster Management forwarded the order of NGT to the Collector, Khurda with direction to implement the order of NGT dt. 21.3.17.

 Finding no response from Colletor, Khurda, 0n 10.5.17,  Sri Binay Kumar Singh,  the Under Secretary  has  again sought report  from the Collector, Khurda  about implementation of orders of  Hon’ble NGT to this Department immediately. Finding no response, the Dept. again wrote a letter dt. 1.7.17 (letter no. RDM-LRGE KHD-0024-2017) to  the Collector, Khurda  to enquire into the  matter immediately  and take necessary action  as per law  with intimation to the Dept.

On 13.4.17,   Sri Debibrata Biswal, Special Secretary to Govt. Dept. of Forest and Environment   wrote a letter to the Collector, Khurda to take necessary steps to execute orders of National Green Tribunal and send Action Taken Report immediately.

Despite plethora of letter correspondence, the Collector, Khurda simply continues to ignore the order of Dept. of Revenue and DM and Forest and Environment and does not care to produce ATR.

(All the related documents are available with me and can be provided on request from interested parties)

Pradip Pradhan 

M-9937843482

Date- 15.7.17