Thursday 16 June 2011

Chief secy clears air on property declaration

Chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, who was under a cloud after the Centre's charge that he had not filed his property statement, on Wednesday said a procedural problem has created the impression that he defaulted. 


Patnaik said the Centre had asked for property statements for 2009 and 2010. "For 2009, I had filed my property return stating 'as in the previous year'. This has been a practice we follow if no changes are needed," he told TOI on Wednesday. "For 2010, I filed my property statement in detail in February," he added. 


The government of India's department of personnel and training's website said Patnaik and seven other Orissa cadre IAS officers, including school and mass education secretary Aparajita Sarangi, Sangram Keshari Mishra, G Mathivathinan and Vishal Gagan, had not submitted their immovable property returns. 


"Recently, I got a letter from the Centre asking me to file my propery return for 2009 in detail. I will do so shortly," Patnaik, a 1976 batch IAS officer, said. "In consonance with rules, I took government permission before acquiring any property. I have nothing to hide," he added. 


The chief secretary said he owns 8.67 acre of farm land at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district, a four-bedroom apartment purchased from a private builder at Ghatikia, Bhubaneswar, and a 5,400 square feet plot purchased from the General Administration department at Ghatikia, Bhubaneswar.


Besides, he has inherited one-fifth of a 10,800 square feet plot in Kalpana area of the city from his father. "I invested around Rs 2.5 lakh for the farmland and its infrastructure development in Dhenkanal in the mid-nineties. I bought the apartment worth Rs 45 lakh after selling off a house I had purchased from the Orissa State Housing Board. I paid around Rs two lakh for the GA department plot," he disclosed. 


The property statements of IAS and IPS officers have come into focus following the Centre's decision to post those on its website with a view to ensure transparency. The Centre's decision followed allegations a corruption in high places, involving bureaucrats, in different parts of the country. 

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