Discretionary Quota: Task Force report finds way to dustbin as Odisha Cabinet excludes single allottees from its purview

Bhubaneswar: Making a U-turn on its previous resolution, the Odisha Cabinet on Friday decided to exclude single allotment made by the BDA, CDA and OSHB from the purview of the Task Force Report (TFR) submitted in this regard many years back.

The decision was taken by the State government in light of recommendation of paragraph 48 (7) of the TFR which had recommended cancellation of all properties allocated under discretionary quota.

Official sources said all allotments, which are made in terms of brochures and schemes to single original allottees by the BDA, CDA and OSHB and are in alignment with the High Court order, be considered genuine and their mutations valid. It was further decided that post allotment formalities of legal heirs of such single original allottees may also be considered proper and valid and no action be taken against such allotments.

This is a departure from the Cabinet decision in 2014 when it had accepted the report of the Task Force submitted by senior IAS and Revenue Secretary Tara Dutta and cancelled all allotments by the BDA, CDA and OSHB under discretionary quota after 1995 and issued show cause notice to allottees.

While plots/flats/residential houses under discretionary quota had come under scanner then, the government, during an Assembly session in 2016 had maintained that allotment will not be cancelled for those who had availed only one residential property under the discretionary quota (DQ) while seeming unclear about those with multiple properties to their name under the reservation category.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Jayadev Jena called out the government for its double standards and opposed the decision. “This is a ploy by the government to shield influential people and bureaucrats who have availed properties under the discretionary quota. The BJD knows that if IAS and IPS officers are not kept in good books, it could spell trouble for the government. This decision clearly shows that the idea of constituting a task force was mere hogwash to divert people’s attention from the corruption,” he said.

In 2011, the Naveen Patnaik government had scrapped the discretionary quota after it came to the fore that Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh along with many others had multiple houses allotted in their name under the category.