Mumbai : City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), already infamous for helping builders by violating rules, has also bypassed rules for its own employees causing loss of more than Rs 18 crore to the state exchequer. It is shocking that employees who are paid for implementing rules, have themselves ‘ensured’ this violation.
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its latest report has indicted CIDCO for this loss, its inordinate delay in decision making and had rejected its clarification too.
As provided in the Land Regulations, CIDCO has been allotting plots to Co-operative Housing Societies (CHSs), formed by employees of government departments or institutions and PSUs, at a specific price prevailing on the date of issue of letters of allotment. Twenty CHS – 18 at Kharghar and
two at Nerul, formed by CIDCO employees, approached the CIDCO for allotment of plots in 2004-05. In the Letter of Intent (LoI) issued during 2004-05 by the Company, it was stipulated that Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) reckoned at 10 per cent of Lease
Premium (LP) should be paid within 15 days from the date of its receipt and that the letter of allotment would be issued only after completing the formalities of the scheme. The balance amount was to be paid within two months from the date of allotment.
20 loss-making CHSs
Sangharsh, Nilkamal, Priyesh, Atharva, Ajinkya, Ashtavinayak, Sai Kripa, Parate, Siddivinayak, Shree Ganesh, Saraswati, Vighna Harta, Ekveera, Akash Deep, Sai Prasad, Akshay, Om Sai Savali, Nath Valley, Jai Ganesh and Shree Krupa.
” We observed that even though all these 20 CHS paid the EMD in 2004-05, a decision for allotment of plots was not taken till November 2008 for the reasons not on record. The Company issued letters of allotment in December 2008 and January 2009 with the instruction to pay the balance LP at old rates in two installments. The Societies paid the two installments and executed Agreement to Lease during the period between November 2009 and May 2011. However, allotments should have been made at prevailing rate at the time of issuing allotment letter. This resulted in loss of revenue of Rs. 18.40 crore,” CAG pulled up CIDCO. CAG has calculated this figure of loss based pn difference in base rate of 2008-09 and 2004-05 multiplied by area allotted.
“The CIDCO management stated that the allotments were made with the approval of the Board of Directors in December 2008.
The reply is not tenable as the Board Resolution did not direct the Company to allot plots at the old rates,” CAG said while rejecting CIDCO’s argument.
Pramod Chunchuwar
