Jailed IAS mans house becomes hospital

BHUBANESWAR: Taking a tough stand against corruption, the State Government on Wednesday announced that confiscated properties of corrupt officials will be used for public purpose.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced this at a function to mark the observance of “Vigilance Week” here. As a first step towards this initiative, the Government is putting one such confiscated building at Gandamunda area of the city to function as a homoeopathic dispensary, he said. The Government had recently confiscated a two-storeyed building of Sanjiv Kumar Ray, a retired IAS officer, after he was convicted in a disproportionate assets case by a special court in Bhubaneswar in  January last.Orissa is the second State after Bihar to use properties of corrupt official for public purpose. The Nitish Kumar Government in Bihar had turned the house of a corrupt IAS officer into a school.This dispensary became functional minutes after the announcement was made by the Chief Minister.Ray was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and a fine of `1 lakh. He had acquired assets to the tune of `16,40,337.93 during his service from 1997 to 2001 which were disproportionate to his income. Reiterating his commitment to root out graft,  Naveen said the objective remains “zero tolerance to corruption.” The Government enacted the Odisha Special Courts Act in 2006 to ensure speedy disposal of disproportionate assets case. Already in five cases, the courts have convicted the accused officials.The Chief Minister said after the orders passed by the court for confiscation of property in three cases in Bhubaneswar, the Government has already taken possession of two. Also, apart from confiscation cases instituted in four disproportionate assets cases, Special Judge, Koraput, has passed orders for seizure of property while convicting the accused persons, he said.The Congress, however, alleged that the Chief Minister is playing to the gallery before the panchayat polls and it would have no impact on it. Orissa Human Rights Commission (OHRC) Chairman Justice Radhakrishna Patra, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani, Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik and  Vigilance Director Anup Patnaik attended the meeting.