Bangalore: Three Teams to Probe Land Scams in Bangalore, Mysore
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Oct 12: Perturbed by the shady deals and scams perpetrated by housing societies with the connivance of officials, the D V Sadananda Gowda regime has constituted three teams to probe into alleged irregularities in possession of lands, approving layouts, sites allotment and financial lapses by as may as 81 house building cooperative societies in Bangalore and 31 societies in Mysore.
Announcing the State Government’s decision, Karnataka’s Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi said the three teams comprising officials of Joint Registrars, District Registrars and Assistant Registrars have been formed to conduct inquiries into alleged acquisition of lands, formation of sites, allotment of sites and financial irregularities conducted by office-bearers, members and non-members by societies in Bangalore and Mysore.
The officials sought two months time to submit details reports on alleged irregularities conducted by housing societies in two cities, he said.
The Minister also said the Cooperation Department has superseded the boards of Vyalikaval House Building Society and the Karnataka State Legislature Employees Housing Society in Bangalore following a large scale irregularities.
Savadi said criminal cases would be booked against office-bearers of societies involved in misappropriation of allotted lands by the Government agencies and misuse of funds. The audit reports and reports submitted by three teams would be compared and studied to avoid any favourtism in reposts submitted by official teams, he said.
The Minister said the Department is also conducting probe into the Karnataka Judicial Employees House Building Cooperative Society, established in 1983 to provide houses to the employees of Judicial Department. It has allegedly committed several irregularities in possession of land, approving layout plan and site allotment.
It may be recalled that the house site allotted to the wife of Justice Shivaraj V Patil by the Vishwa Bharati House Building Cooperative Society despite his being allotted a site by the Judicial Employess House Building Cooperative Society led to the latter’s resignation as the Karnataka Lokayukta.
The Minister said irregularities occurred by the Vishwa Bharati House Building Cooperative Society Limited came to the surface following efforts by the department officials to probe lapses in the formation of the layout.
VAT on Raisin slashed from 14% to 2%
Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi said the State Government has slashed the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the sale of raisin (dry grapes) from 14 per cent to two per cent to prevent the loss of trade to the neighbouring Maharashtra.
The total turnover of raisin market has been estimated Rs 500 crore a year and a majority of the product was being sold in Maharashtra by grape growers where the VAT is zero.
The Government has already issued a notification to slash VAT from 14 per cent to two per cent on the raisin trade, which is expected to give a big boost to processing industry and better return to the farmers, the minister said.
“The high VAT rate in Karnataka had hurt not only the farming community but also of traders. There is substantial loss of revenue loss to the State exchequer also,” he said.
The Government was also planning to reduce cess of Rs. 1.50 per quintal levied on turmeric, maize and jaggery in the State. The cess was fixed at 50 paise per quintal in the neighboring Maharashtra and other states.
A decision would be taken after holding discussions with the representatives of the APMC’s located in the bordering districts to Maharashtra.
There is a long standing demand from the APMC of bordering areas for fixing the cess on these products on par with the Maharashtra and other states, the Minister added.