CAG raps Odisha for arbitrary land allotment

Govt lost Rs 252 cr for non revision of land rates

Allotment of government land by Odisha's general administration (GA) department without any specified policy or procedure has come in for sharp criticism by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG).

CAG in its latest report on general and social sector for the year ended March 31, 2012, says the GA department alloted 464.47 acres in the city in 337 cases during 2000-12 to individuals, government offices, government undertakings as well as private bodies for establishment of hotels, hospitals, educational institutions and non-government organisations.

Of this, 183.44 acres were alloted to non-government institutions/organisations.

A test check of 164 out of 337 cases by the Central auditor revealed that the process of allotment of land lacked a defined policy and procedure. CAG held that absence of any rule or criteria to govern the allotment process gave room for arbitrariness in allotment.

"There was no uniformity in disposal of applications, sanction of concession on premium to be paid, changes in land use plan and resumption of encroached land. Proclamations inviting public objections as stipulated in Odisha Government Land Settlement Rules was not published in any of the test checked cases,” the report said.

Site selection committee, a body specifically constituted to examine the eligibility of allotment, was bypassed in 19 out of 164 test checked cases while alloting 112.15 acres of land. Apart from this, recommendation of the respective administrative departments was not obtained in 15 cases for allotment of 39.27 acres of land.

The CAG report has also pointed out that non-revision of land premium as well as benchmark valuation of land brought in loss of Rs 251.92 crore for the government during 1998-2009.

Despite stipulation in the acts and rules to put public land (other than public purpose) into auction, the GA department did not apply auction method in case of allotment of 154.47 acres, though the prevailing market rate was 4.78 times more than the benchmark value, thereby foregoing the opportunity of earning substantial revenue for the government, the report said.

Audit scrutiny revealed that though the GA department was leasing out land to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) for industrial and residential purposes, respectively, these agencies were, in turn, alloting land to educational institutions, hotels and hospitals.

On encroached land, the CAG report says 11.18 acres of land valued at Rs 84.21 crore was under the occupation of encroachers (as on March 2012) and no effective steps were taken to evict them.