Ten long days after the State Government had formed a Taskforce to probe into the alleged misuse of discretionary quota by ruling BJD politicians, it now set the terms of reference for the Taskforce only on Tuesday.
“The Taskforce will submit its findings and recommendations to the Government within a period of four months,” Housing and Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo told reporters.
Earlier, the Government on August 2 had set up the three-member Taskforce headed by Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue Disaster Management, Taradatt.
A notification issued by the General Administration (GA) Department on Tuesday said, “The scope of the review by the Taskforce will cover the period from January 1, 1995 to July 31, 2014 in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack urban areas in respect of all cases of allotment of lands/flats/houses out of discretionary quota.”
“The Taskforce will also review allotment of more than one unit of land/flat/house to members of the same family,” the notification said.
Simultaneously, the concerned agencies like the BDA (Bhubaneswar Development Authority), the CDA (Cuttack Development Authority), the OSHB (Odisha State Housing Board) and the GA Department, would take action on irregular allotments within this period, the notification said.
The Government on August 2 had set up the Taskforce in the face of the allegations that Rajya Sabha BJD member Kalpataru Das acquired three Government flats/houses by misusing the discretionary quota.
Meanwhile, Das’ MlA-son Pranab Balabantray has surrendered two flats taken under discretionary quota to the BDA and OSHB, respectively. The standing norms say a family cannot take second plot/flat or house if one of its members already has a residential accommodation in the Bhubaneswar Municipality jurisdiction.
Earlier, the Government had abolished the discretionary quota in December 2011 in the wake of the uproar over Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh availing two houses in the capital city under the quota. Arukh had to surrender one of the two houses he had availed following severe criticism.