Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Saturday asked the concerned departments to complete investigation into the irregularities in the discretionary quota (DQ) allotment within two-three months.

The directive was given by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at a high level review meeting at the State Secretariat here this afternoon.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the State Vigilance, Finance, Urban Development and General Administration (GA) departments, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB).

Briefing media persons after the meeting, the chief secretary said the meeting reviewed the status and progress in the investigation into the irregularities in the DQ allotment as per the recommendation of the special task force led by former additional chief secretary, Finance, Taradatt.

“Though there has been sufficient progress in the investigation by the aforesaid departments, there are other aspects of the probe which need to be completed. Taking this into consideration, instructions have been given to these departments to complete the remaining part of the investigation within 2-3 months,” Padhi added.

It was revealed in the meeting that out of a total of 732 allottees on whom BDA had served notices, 653 have replied while CDA has received replies from 914 allotees out of a total of 1091 allottees. Besides, OSHB has served notices on 90 allottees.

Stating that BDA has cancelled 11 plots under DQ, the chief secretary said the State Vigilance has registered criminal cases against 24 allottees for fraudulently taking possession of plots or flats through false affidavits. Of the 24 cases, nine relate to BDA, while CDA and OSHB have seven and eight cases respectively.

“The primary focus is on personal hearing of the allottees on whom the notices have been served,” Padhi said, adding that the Finance department is in the process of preparation of a database on DQ allotment made after 1995.

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