The Odisha unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said, it will file a PIL (Public interest litigation) in Odisha High Court on the discrepancies in allotment of government land by General Administration (GA) department in Bhubaneswar city.
“We will seek the HC direction on the issue on the basis of CAG findings as no concrete measures have been taken by the state government on the recovery of revenues lost in this regard”, said Bikash Das, an AAP member.
The GA department had allotted 464.479 acre land in 337 cases during 2000-12 to individuals, government offices, government undertakings, non-government organizations (NGOs) as well as private bodies for establishment of hotels, hospitals, educational institutions.
Of this, 183.449 acre (39%) were allotted to other than government institutions or organisations.
On test check by CAG of 164 out of total 337 cases allotted, the process of land allotment lacked a defined policy and procedure.
“After repeated requests of CAG, the state government provided information to the auditors and had stated that the land are allotted through Government Grants Act of 1895 which has no prescribed rules”, said Dhanada Mishra , state coordinator, AAP.
Mishra alleged that the land allotment were done as per directions of the Chief Minister’s office and high ranking officials who have been suitably rewarded with post-retirement benefits.
The scam can be estimated at around Rs 10,000 crore, he added.
“The land distribution in urban areas is governed by Odisha Government Land Settlement Act 1962, but the rules have been violated”, said Prasanna Mishra, an AAP member and a former bureaucrat.
In absence of prescribe procedure in disposal of application for allotment of land , the receipt of application were regulated through a procedure in GA department directly or through concerned administrative department, chief secretary and sometimes through Chief Minister, CAG had stated in its report.
AAP has demanded a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.
