Bhubaneswar: Former top bureaucrat Taradutt’s memoir book- Highlander’s Plain Speak: An Administrative Rede -was released, here on Wednesday.
Odisha governor Prof. Ganeshi Lal inaugurated the book. Former chief secretary JK Mohapatra, former Odisha State Election Commissioner SC Hota, former top bureaucrat Vivek Patnaik and editor of Sambad newspaper SR Patnaik graced the occasion. Hrudaya Ranjan Satapathy compared the programme.
The 521-page book is expected to stir the hornet’s nest in Odisha’s political and bureaucratic set up. Taradatt has revealed some of the untold story of the government and the bureaucracy in this book.
“The book is bound to embarrass the government as Taradatt has tried to expose some of the interesting murky deals of the government”, said a friend of Taradatt who had the privilege to go through the book before its formal release.
Taradatt has reportedly exposed the unholy nexus between some of the top bureaucrats and the land mafias in the book. He has stated because of clandestine deals, land grabbing and mushrooming of slums in Bhubaneswar city has become rampant.
A lesser know bureaucrat, Taradatt was, in fact, catapulted to limelight when he exposed the biggest ever land scam of the State. He listed out the illegal allotments of land and houses in prime localities in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack city in favour of who’s who of the State by BDA and CDA in last two decades pointing a finger towards the unholy nexus between the politicians and the bureaucrats.
He has also mentioned about how land mafias have grabbed hundreds of acres of land in Bhubaneswar and Jatni defying the State government’s directives and even the directives of the courts. Not only that the mafias are even controlling some of the forest land in the outskirt of Bhubaneswar city, he has pointed out .
Similarly, several non-Odias have grabbed hundreds of acres of land in the outskirt of Bhubaneswar city in the name of educational institutions.
In an anecdote, the author has mentioned about how an official destroyed the land records of Khitwana and Khanpuri mouzas of Jatani tehsil to favour land grabbers .
Citing another incident, Taradatt has stated that how an ex-service man has defrauded the government. As per the Central government advise the State government had taken a decision to allot 5 acres of land to the veterans who had fought the 1962,1965 and 1972 wars . Taking advantage of this, an ex-servicemen had fraudulently taken 10 acres of land in two phases. Not only that the allotee had sold the land violating the lease conditions.
The former top bureaucrat, who is known for his honesty, integrity and uprightness, has lamented that the State government is not aware of some of the programmes that are going on under government tag.
“The left hand of the government does not know what the right hand is doing”, he cryptically remarked.
Taradatt has also mentioned about some of the interesting happenings in his 33-years of career as an IAS officer.
