Odisha Cabinet cancels plots, houses allotted under discretionary quota since 1995

Bhubaneswar: In a major move, the Odisha Cabinet on Thursday cancelled all the plots and houses allotted under discretionary quota since 1995.

The vigilance panel will also initiate criminal proceedings against those who produced false affidavit to get discretionary quota meant for martyrs, sportspersons and distinguished personalities.

A total of 1791 discretionary quota plots have been cancelled by the state Cabinet.

In November 2011, CNN-IBN had exposed the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha over how the state government had illegally allotted prime lands in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack misusing its discretionary quota policy. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had validated the report in August 2014. Its report details how the discretionary quota was misused to allot land meant for martyrs, sportspersons and distinguished personalities to politicians, bureaucrats and even some journalists.