state chief information commissioner (SCIC) K.S. Sripathi has come under scanner

Oral orders given for flat allotment
January 20, 2012 By G. JAGANNATH DC chennai
Tamil Nadu Housing Board’s Own Your Housing scheme for government officers and employees in Nerkundram had been embroiled in a controversy since its launch. A public interest litigation is pending in the Madras high court challenging the scheme.

Allotment of a flat in Nerkundram to state chief information commissioner (SCIC) K.S. Sripathi has come under scanner following complaints made by activists C. Selvaraj of ATAC and A. Shankar.

According to TNHB sources, allotment for retired IAS and IPS officers were made following verbal instruction from the higher-ups.

Besides, Mr Sripathi, retired DGPs K. P. Jain and V. Balachandran were also allotted flats in Nerkundram after their retirement from the service, RTI activist V. Gopalakrishnan said.

“The verbal instructions were given to set a cut off date on which day the then state housing minister Suba Thangavelan made the announcement about the scheme in the Assembly,” the official said.

TNHB officials said the Nerkundram scheme was meant only for the serving government officials and employees.

The guideline for Own Your Housing scheme for government officials and employees issued by the housing and urban development department on February 28, 2011, clearly states that the allotment can be availed only by government employees.

“The guideline did not mention any thing about the retired employees availing allotment under the scheme,” Mr Gopalakrishnan said