Bhubaneswar: Even after the lapse of two years and 10 months ever since the government took the decision to cancel the allotment of plots or flats given under the discretionary quota (DQ), not a single holding or apartment has been taken away as the state administration has not prepared the modalities of the cancellation as yet.
“The government has not yet given any instruction for the cancellation of the allotted flats or plots under the discretionary quota. Once the modalities are finalised, we will dispose of the the cases,” said Orissa State Housing Board secretary Rajendra Kumar Nayak here Sunday.
As per a RTI reply of the OSHB, three DQ beneficiaries–BJD legislator Pranab Kumar Balabantaray, Sajal Kumar Moulik and Snigdharani Sahoo – had written to the Board expressing their eagerness to return flats allotted to them under such quota. However, with the modalities of the return not yet decided, the Board is unable to take any steps in this regard.
The OSHB had issued showcause notices to 42 out of 66 beneficiaries of the discretionary quota. Similarly, notices were served on 24 persons, including IAS officer Sanjib Kumar Mishra and legislator Tukuni Sahu, who had received more than one plot or flat under the quota system.
It was learnt that 791 people have got plots or flats from the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and 921 from the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) under the discretionary quota.
Mounting an attack on the ruling BJD Golok Mohapatra, BJP spokesperson, said that there is a lack of interest on the part of the state government to deal with the cancellation issue.
“The BJD government only believes in announcements, not in action. Put simply, the government does not want to take the flats or plots back. In that case, how will the beneficiaries of the discretionary quota return what they had received from the government,” Mohapatra asked.
Similarly, slamming the government Congress legislator Prafulla Majhi said that the non-implementation of the decision taken by the state Cabinet is a reflection of the sorry state of affairs in the government. Majhi has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard.
However, senior BJD leader Pratap Deb refuted the charges of Opposition parties, saying that the government had not lost its direction and that steps would be taken once administrative procedures are over.
“As a financial audit on all the allotments made till 1994 has been ordered, the process is taking time,” Deb said.
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