Odisha Govt decides to cancel land/house allotments under DQ

Odisha government today decided cancel allotments of houses and plots made to 1791 beneficiaries under the discretionary quota (DQ) since January 1, 1995 and initiate criminal proceedings against those who benefitted by producing forged or misleading documents.
The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Chief Secretary G C Pati told reporters.
It was also decided to conduct vigilance inquiry into allotment of all multiple plots and flats made under DQ.
Law Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said 1791 houses, plots or flats were distributed among beneficiaries under DQ between January 1, 1995 and July 2014.

"At least 54 of the 1791 beneficiaries of the DQ were found to have taken multiple houses, plots or flats," Pati said.
A total 302 beneficiaries have been found to have taken multiple houses or plots (other than DQ), while 78 had got allotments before lunching of the schemes, Sahoo said adding 1791 beneficiaries would face cancellation.

Pati said the Task Force recommended that allotments made under DQ by the Minister, Housing and Urban Development from February 22, 1999 to May 15, 2004 are illegal and may be cancelled as notifications of appointment of Minister of State as chairman of Bhubaneswar Development Authodity and Cuttack Development Aauthority were not revised and the ministers concerned had not been appointed as chairpersons of the concerned authorities under the relevant laws.

The rules would be examined in consultation with the advocate general, he said.
Sahoo said a comprehensive examination will be made on third party transfer cases.
As per the cabinet decision, the finance department will conduct a special audit of all cases of multiple allotments as recommended by the Task Force after which action will be taken against the persons left in the report, he said replying a question, the chief secretary said.