One-month ultimatum given to CM
The 24 civil society groups of the State which staged a three-day dharna at lower PMG here from September 10 to 12 demanding a CBI enquiry into corruption exposed by CAG in respect of allotment of land and plots by the Department of General Administration, Idco, CDA and BDA have served an ultimatum to the State Government to order a probe into the scam within a month.
On behalf of the civil society groups, RTI activist Pradip Pradhan said, “The performance audit of the CAG made from 2000 to 2012 has brought to light the illegal procedure followed in respect of allotment of land, keeping deliberately premium amounts low in order to sell the land to powerful people at throwaway prices, illegally regularising the encroached land in the name of the encroachers and granting huge concession to the private institutions at the cost of the State exchequer.”
Pradhan said the civil society groups had organised a mass demonstration in Bhubaneswar on August 25 demanding a CBI enquiry into the scam. After getting no response, the groups decided to continue their stir and organised the dharna to generate public opinion in support of the demand. Hundreds of people from various districts participated in the dharna.
During the dharna, three FIRs were lodged by activists against Chief Information Commissioner Tarun Kanti Mishra, Crime Branch ADG BK Sharma and former State Information Commissioner Jagadanand (he has taken a plot in the name of his wife Manjushree Patnaik) at the Badagada police station and Capital police station, respectively, Pradhan said.
The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister with one-month ultimatum to order a CBI enquiry into the scam.
Prominent figures, who addressed the meeting included social activist Prafulla Samantara, Gandhian Padma Charan Nayak, journalist Rabi Das, former Minister Panchanan Kanungo, advocate Khirod Rout, Naba Nirman Samiti convenor Akshaya Kumar, former MlAs Radhakant Sethy and Narayan Reddy and PPSS convenor Prasant Paikaray.