Daily Pioneer: Bhubaneswar:Tuesday,
February 12, 2013.
The
irregularities in allotment of Government lands have come to the fore again
with 50 per cent of the 158 plots of land allotted to various organisations and
individuals in the last 12 years has been found misutilised.
Addressing a
Press conference here, All-India Anti-Corruption Organisation (AIACO) State
convener Subrat Kumar Nanda on Sunday, basing on the data collected though the
Right to Information (RTI) Act, alleged that the General Administration (GA)
Department allotted 158 plots land in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation
(BMC) areas to various private institutions and organisations and individuals
between 2000 and 2011 without following the guidelines of the Government and
even the verdict of the Supreme Court.
While the
Supreme Court in 2009 clearly debarred the Central and State Governments not to
allot lands for construction of temples then on what ground the State GA
Department allotted lands to organisations for construction of temples, Nanda
asked.
He also
stated that various land owners have misutilised the land by violating the
lease agreements.
Giving
instances, Nanda said the Sri Ananta Seva Parisad had been allotted .340
decimal of land at Sampur Mouza in 2008 for developing a herbal garden and a yoga
centre. But the Parisad has erected a temple there and even encroached acres of
Government land in its surrounding.
“It is just
one example of misuse of Government lands. There are various such examples
where the Government officials are helping them misutilise the lands,”said
Nanda.
“We demand
that the State Government ensure an inquiry into the land scam by a sitting
judge of the Odisha High Court. We will also file a PIL in the High Court
seeking its intervention into the allotment of lands during 2000-2011 and its
present status,” added Nanda.
Nanda too
urged the Government to implement the Land Bank scheme on the line of the one
in Gujarat to streamline the selling and utilisation of Government lands.
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