The five member Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro on Friday finalised the much awaited Draft land Grant Policy (lGP) -2012 for allotment of Government land in the capital city. The draft policy would be placed before the next Cabinet meeting for approval.
Talking to media after the meeting, Patro said that with the in-principle adoption of the new lGP, there would be no direct allotment of Government land for commercial purposes. The land allotment for commercial purposes would be done through technical and financial bidding process by the General Administration department with the support of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). The highest bidder would be given the land on lease basis.
Stating that the draft policy envisages allotment of land for affordable housing through societies, he said that there would be no land allotment to individuals. There is a need for a comprehensive lGP in the State, particularly in Bhubaneswar. The land allotment being done by the GA department under the obsolete land Grant Act formulated by the British way back in 1895 has posed serious problems, the Minister asserted.
Since there has been rapid growth of Bhubaneswar city and the area has now been expanded to around 492 sq km, the policy would ensure transparency in land allotment, the Minister maintained.
Patro said that steps would be taken to locate the Government lands in and around Bhubaneswar to hand over them to the GA department to ensure their allotment for housing and other commercial purposes adhering to stringent guidelines under the new lGP. He said that the lGP was prepared on the basis of Karnataka land Grant Policy.
The meeting was attended by, among others, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kalpataru Das, Excise Minister Niranjan Pujari, Urban Development Minister Debi Mishra, Rural Development Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner Jugal Kishore Mohapatra
and the Secretaries of UD and Revenue departments, apart from the BDA Vice-Chairman.
It may be recalled that the CAG had rapped the State Government for lack of any rules, regulations and manuals by the GA department for allotment of land within the geographical limits of the capital city for the last 60 years. Besides, there was no comprehensive data on total land available, allotment and encroached upon, the CAG had observed.