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Land for Reliance: Naveen’s intervention sought

BERHAMPUR: The State committee of the CPI(M) urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to intervene to stall the process of handing over prime land of Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) in an educational zone to the Reliance company for establishment of a shopping mall.

State secretariat member Ali Kishore Patnaik handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Saturday during his visit to the city. Speaking to the newsmen, the Chief Minister promised to look into the matter. The CPI(M) leader pointed out that in 1994 the State Government had agreed to hand over the land to the Khallikote Autonomous college. Even the deputy secretary of the Transport Department had intimated the OSRTC MD regarding the proposed transfer, which never took place.

Suddenly this 4.39 acres of OSRTC land was found to be handed over to Reliance. The memorandum said the said land was an asset of the Orissa Road Transport (ORT) a public limited company which was amalgamated with OSRTC in 1994. Officially the ORT and the right of its share holders were still in force. Therefore any attempt to alienate or transfer property of ORT was illegal, Mr Patnaik said.

Added to it the Regional Employees Provident Fund Office, the tenant of a portion of the building of the OSRTC on the spot has also attached the entire property for non-payment of provident fund arrears worth Rs 12 crores of employees by the ORT. Till disposal of this litigation neither the OSRTC nor the State Government had any authority to alienate or transfer portion of this land to the Reliance company, it was said.

Meanwhile, students of the Khallikote college demonstrated on the college campus on the issue. They burnt an effigy of Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik for his alleged silence on the matter.

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