Ex-panchayat prez gets notice to pay ₹30L in OSR land issue

Coimbatore: The district administration has initiated the process to recover 30 lakh from former Maruthur village panchayat president P R Rangarajan to compensate the loss he caused to the local body.
A local body official said Rangarajan had issued no objection certificate (NOC) to the realtors for developing layouts without earmarking the mandatory 10% open space reservation (OSR), which the local body could use for creating a park or developing any public utilities.
The official said Rangarajan had issued NOCs for 78 layouts between 2006 and 2014 and 49 of them hadn’t earmarked OSR lands. The issue came to light during an audit conducted by assistant director of rural development (audit) A P Paramasivam a few months ago.
The official said Rangarajan’s wife Poornima was now the president of the panchayat. “Communications sent to her seeking the NOCs issued by her husband to be sent to the audit office have not elicited any response.”
Subsequently, Paramasivam initiated a surcharge inquiry, wherein it was confirmed that the misconduct of Rangarajan had resulted in a loss of 29,37,228 (guideline value of OSR lands) to the panchayat. Following this, a notice was served on Rangarajan on August 4, asking him to pay 30,79,018, including Rs1,41,790 for causing loss to the local body, within 30 days of accepting the same.
According to the official, Rangarajan was also given 30 days to appeal before the district collector against the notice. “If he fails to file the appeal or pay the money in the given time, the amount will be collected through court with 15% interest from the end of the 30-day deadline.”
Activist S P Thiyagarajan said the panchayat presidents across the state were involved in similar misconducts, depriving lung space in the rural areas. “Action is rarely taken. A state-wide inquiry should be conducted into the issue. It will act as a deterrent to the elected representatives in future.”