If irregularities detected, land may be taken back
Coming under pressure from various sections including the Opposition political parties, the State Government on Wednesday decided to refer the issue of controversial allotment of 14 acres of land to the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) to the law Department for a review.
The department will examine the issue following an emerging controversy, said IDCO CMD Vishal Dev.
The decision to review the allotment of land to the KIIT was decided at the High level Committee (HlC) held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati.
After the meeting, Dev said that Revenue and Disaster Management Additional Chief Secretary Taradatta had suggested referring the matter to the law department to determine the question of any irregularities and favouritism if any in the allotment of the 14 acres by the IDCO. He indicated that the land in question would be resumed, if it was found that the allotment was done in violation of the rules. The issue of the questionable allotment of land was exposed by senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra basing on a CAG report. The BJP leader on August 19 had questioned the approval of the allotment of the land to the KIIT Group on June 18 last by the Chief Minister on the recommendation of a past HlC headed by the then Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra. “The first thing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik did after assuming office for the fourth term on May 21 was to regularise 14 acres of land which was under the unauthorized occupation of KIIT,” the BJP leader had alleged.
Dev also said that Government also had decided to allot five acres of land to M/s Shahi Garment for establishment of a modern apparel industry in Bhubaneswar. Meanwhile, in continuation of its steps to cancel the allotment of Government lands which were utilized for other than medical purposes, the GA Department on Wednesday issued show cause notice against eight persons in Bhubaneswar.