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The Odisha government has given the nod to its general administration (GA) department to launch a probe into allegations of misuse of government land allotted at concessional rate for setting up of medical institutions. The beneficiaries list included wife of state revenue minister Bijayashree Routray.
Talking to media persons, a senior government official said, the GA department and the health department would conduct a joint probe into the allotment of government land.
“The GA department would serve show cause notices to those who have misused these land by building private houses on them. Appropriate action would be taken against the erring persons if they are found guilty,” said Nitin Chandra, special secretary with GA department.
In July this year, the state Health department had informed the GA department to take action against 13 individuals and firms, who had built private houses on land allotted to them for establishment of hospitals and nursing homes. They were among 44 beneficiaries who were allotted land for this purpose between 1985 and 2006.
The list of erring persons included Jyoti Routray, wife of revenue minister Bijayashree Routray, who has a built a private house on land allotted for a nursing home.
Chandra did not specifically mention about the case against the minister’s wife and said, action will be taken against persons who have misused nearly 8 acre valuable government land in the capital city by availing the property at discounted rate.
In his defence, Routray has already said that the clinic set up by his wife did not do well and hence, he later used the plot to build his residence. He further clarified that he did not possess any other residential plot in Bhubaneswar.
In a separate land misuse and encroachment case, the Revenue Minister today said, FIRs will be filed soon against the government officials and persons involved in the illegal land selling and buying process in Chandaka forest area.
“Police complaints will be filed against the government officials and persons involved in the land transaction cases at Ghangapatna in Chandka forest area as they have violated norms by selling land whose lease validity had expired,” Routray said today.
In the report submitted by Khurda Collector recently, it was mentioned that there was an attempt by the leaseholders to sell 46 acre land whose lease validity had expired long ago. The Revenue department was directed by the government to bring back the land title under its name and has been empowered to cancel the lease validity of remaining 35 acre land if any violations of the lease agreement is found.
The government records show a patch of the controversial land is held by a trust, which is managed by the family members of senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Kalpataru Das. However, Pranab Balabantray, son of Kalpataru Das and a ruling party MLA, has already admitted that he had sold the land to another person a couple of years back and the name of the real owner could be seen on the record after the process of mutation is complete.
