Accepting the Taradatt-headed Taskforce report on land, plot and flat allotment under discretionary quota (DQ), the State Cabinet on Thursday decided to cancel all allotments made under the quota since January 1, 1995.
The Cabinet which was chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat here decided to conduct a Vigilance probe into the cases of multiple plot and flat allotments under the scheme. After the Cabinet meeting, Chief Secretary GC Pati told mediapersons that, “The allotment of plots made by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and the Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) under the scheme during the period would be cancelled.”
“Those who have taken possession of more than one plot and flat under discretionary quota scheme through false affidavits would come under Vigilance inquiry,” said the Chief Secretary. Giving details of the decision taken in this regard, law Minister Arun Sahu said as many as 1, 791 houses, plots or flats were distributed among beneficiaries under discretionary quota between January, 1995 and July, 2014.
“At least 54 of the 1,791 beneficiaries under the Ddiscretionary quota were found to have taken multiple houses, plots or flats,” added Sahu. He added that a total 302 beneficiaries have been found to have taken multiple houses or plots (other than DQ), while 78 had got allotments before launching of the schemes,
Sahu said adding that the 1,791 beneficiaries would face cancellation. Housing and Urban Development Minister Puspendra Singh Deo said a total of 6,001 plots, including DQ plots, have been allotted to various persons during the period. As per the Cabinet decision, the Finance department will conduct a special audit of all cases of multiple allotments as recommended by the Taskforce after which action will be taken against the persons left in the report, the Chief Secretary added.