Govt accepts almost all recommendations of the Adarsh Panel
Mumbai : The State government has accepted almost all the recommendations of the panel formed to look into the Adarsh scam and now backward class members in buildings built on revenue department land would be able to sell flats allotted to them even to non-backward class individuals.
Revenue minister Eknath Khadse announced the decision here on Monday. The decision is expected to help 14,000 cooperative housing societies in the city, Khadse said, adding that he has decided to decentralise powers in the revenue department and intends to announce a decision in this regard every fortnight.
The new decision will allow owners to sell their flats to buyers from other categories than the one that the land was originally intended for. For instance, an IAS officer will be able to sell his flat to a non-IAS officer.
Retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade’s persistence for changing the norms is one of the reasons behind the new decision.
According to Khadse, Khobragade wanted to sell his flat in the Adarsh Housing Society after he was accused by the CBI in the Adarsh scam.
“Since the land allotted to Adarsh society was reserved for a particular category, the previous law did not permit him to sell his flat to anyone but an IAS officer,” Khadse said.
He added that there were demands from housing societies to relax norms for flats reserved for the SC and ST category even before the Adarsh scam broke out.
“The only condition is that a district collector should supervise the transfer of the flat. But, a society that is completely reserved for a particular category, cannot sell flats to other than the reserved category,” he said.
Manukumar Shrivastava, principal secretary in the revenue department, said that there are societies reserved for MLAs, IAS and IPS officials.
“If an IAS officer wants to sell his flat but he does not find a buyer, a co-IAS official, he is held up. Now, the rules have changed. Flats can be sold to anybody who wants to buy,” Shrivastav said.
