DQ row: Govt seeks ATR from BDA, CDA, OSHB

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Bhubaneswar: Expressing dissatisfaction over the carelessness of officials of BDA, CDA and OSHB regarding implementation of recommendations of Task Force on Discretionary Quota (DQ), the state government Friday sought action taken reports from all the three agencies.
General Administration secretary AKK Meena has written to the vice chairmen of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and secretary of Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) in this regard.
“You have been requested vide the letter No 8818/CA dated 27.03.2018 to furnish the action taken report in the matter at an early date for taking further necessary action at this end. Though more than three months have elapsed in between, no response has been received from your end till date,” Meena said in his letter.
As Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi has desired to review the status of the issue shortly, he asked the three government agencies to submit the action taken report within seven days from the date of receipt of the letter.
At a press conference in May, Housing and Urban Development Minister Niranjan Pujari had stated that the government had cancelled only four houses/ plots allotted under DQ.
Between 1995 and 2011, the BDA had allotted 791 flats/plots under the quota while CDA had allotted 921 DQ flats/plots and 67 plots/flats were allotted by the OSHB.
The discretionary quota came under the scanner after the state Cabinet December 18, 2014, decided to review all allotments under it since January 1, 1995, on a case-to-case basis. The Cabinet had taken the decision on the basis of the recommendations of the Task Force led by then additional chief secretary Taradatt. The Task Force had recommended cancellation of all DQ allotments following which the government had started the process, which is yet to be completed.
In 2011, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had scrapped discretionary quota after it was found that minister Bikram Keshari Arukh got two houses allotted to him.