Hundreds of acres of agricultural and government land in Odisha were allegedly converted, diverted or occupied without following prescribed procedures, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The audit found that revenue authorities failed to enforce statutory safeguards in several cases involving land used for commercial, residential and educational purposes.

The report said nearly 504 acres of agricultural land across 24 tehsils were converted for non-agricultural purposes without complying with procedures under the Orissa Land Reforms Act. Around 250 acres were converted for commercial projects, 132.8 acres for residential developments and 53.6 acres for educational institutions. The audit also found instances where mandatory consultations with development authorities were not conducted.

According to the report, conversion of 30.3 acres was approved without seeking the views of development authorities, while another 10.7 acres was converted across six tehsils despite written objections from those authorities. The findings were part of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department's compliance report for 2023-24 and pointed to shortcomings in enforcement by officials, including tehsildars.

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The CAG also highlighted cases involving government land that had been allotted for industrial and information technology purposes but was subsequently used by private educational institutions. In one case, 17.8 acres allotted by the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha in 1981 for a cement manufacturing unit in Bhubaneswar's Chandaka Industrial Area was found in the possession of an educational trust. Although the allottee's proposal to transfer the land and change its use was rejected, the allotment was not cancelled.

In another finding, 22 private educational institutions across 12 tehsils were found to have unauthorisedly occupied 210.76 acres of government land. The audit also referred to 10 acres of forest land at Pathargadia village in Bhubaneswar that was allegedly occupied by Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), run by former BJD MP Achyut Samanta. An encroachment case initiated in 2011 was followed by a 2018 verification report stating that the occupation had been cleared, but a 2019 inspection found the institution still using the land and having constructed an academic block and hostels.

The CAG said the forest land remained under unauthorised occupation despite directions during forest-clearance proceedings to take action against officials who had allegedly suppressed the violation. The institution had not responded to the audit findings at the time of the report. The findings collectively pointed to lapses in land administration, including failure to enforce conversion conditions, address objections and prevent or remove unauthorised occupation of government and forest land.

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