Bhubaneswar, Aug. 8: The development authority has asked all its employees to submit their property list within a month.

The move comes in the wake of allegations about illegal allotment of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) houses and plots by its employees, family members and influential people.

This was also questioned by the accountant and auditor general (AG) in its report. The accountant general also stated how fraudulently the land was distributed by the BDA.

The government has issued a notice to joint secretary of the finance department Bivas Kanungo for his alleged involvement in irregular plot distribution when he had been officer on special duty (land) in the BDA between 1998 and 2001.

Kanungo had allegedly allotted 10 plots of the district centre scheme, Chandrasekharpur, to relatives of the BDA officials and another plot to himself at a throwaway price.

A vigilance inquiry was initiated against him a decade ago, but the government had remained silent on its findings. After the land scam hit the state again following the AG’s disclosure, the general administration decided to reopen the case.

BDA secretary Ranjan Das said that according to the conduct rules, government employees were required to submit their property list every three years. “The BDA officials are also governed by the same rules. So, they have been asked to submit their property list within a month,” he said.

On July 23, The Telegraph published a report “Houses two many for comfort” which highlighted the accountant general’s letter revealing that 29 persons and their spouses were allotted more than one house or plot by the BDA.

The issue rocked the Assembly during its just-concluded budget session and snowballed into a major political controversy. Opposition wants a CBI probe into the scam.