BHUBANESWAR: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has recommended to the State Government to have a land use policy as well as a plan and prescribe norms for requirement of land for different industries. In its latest report, the CAG said the State Government should set up an independent and representative regulatory authority to ensure strict compliance to land use norms and ensure that there is no arbitrary deviation. It said agricultural as well as private land should be acquired only for public purposes maintaining the sanctity of its meaning as per the provisions of the Land Acquisition (LA) Act. The CAG said land under cultivation considerably decreased in the State with the increased use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Fulfilment of public purpose clause, as defined in the LA Act, in acquisition of land for private promoters of industries was not beyond doubt, it said. The CAG said there was also no mechanism to effectively identify, monitor and follow up utilisation of allotted land for intended purposes as well as encroachments on acquired and Government land. Resumption of unused leased land after expiry of the stipulated period is completely non-existent, it said. It recommended that all unused land, allotted to industries, should be resumed after a fair assessment and a mechanism devised to return the same to land losers besides imposing penalty on the industry within a fixed time period.
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