Sarbakhyama Yojana (Scheme for Regularization of Unauthorized Constructions, Odisha)

What is Sarbakhyama Yojana?

Sarbakhyama Yojana is the popular name for Odisha's Scheme for Regularization of Unauthorized Constructions, notified by the Housing and Urban Development Department under Section 124 of the Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982. The Odia word sarbakhyama means general amnesty, and that is exactly what the scheme is: a time-bound window in which an owner can bring an illegal or plan-deviating building inside the regulatory framework by paying a compounding fee, rather than face demolition proceedings.

The scheme was first notified as the Scheme for Regularisation of Unauthorised Constructions, 2018 through notification No. 15646/HUD dated 20 June 2018, published in Odisha Gazette Extraordinary No. 987. That version ran for an initial six months and was extended twice for six months each. Because public response was low, the state superseded it with the Scheme for Regularization of Unauthorized Constructions, 2019, notified vide No. 13955/HUD dated 6 August 2019, which relaxed the norms considerably to make the amnesty more usable.

Sarbakhyama is not a cash benefit scheme. Nobody receives money under it. What an applicant receives is a legal building, an approved plan matching what actually stands on the plot, and freedom from enforcement action.

Which areas and buildings does the scheme cover?

The 2019 scheme extends to all development areas of Odisha declared under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982. It was framed with reference to the nine Development Authorities that had notified Planning and Building Standards Regulations: Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Puri-Konark, Paradeep, Kalinga Nagar and Talcher-Angul-Meramandali.

"Unauthorized construction" is defined in the scheme as construction undertaken in contravention of the approved plan, or without any approval at all from the competent authority. The competent authority may be a Development Authority, a Regional Improvement Trust, a Special Planning Authority, an urban local body or another government agency supported to approve building plans.

The scheme covers construction undertaken before the date the scheme came into force, and it also applies to every application already received under the 2018 scheme and its extensions, so applicants from the earlier round did not have to start over.

Who is eligible under Sarbakhyama Yojana?

You can seek regularisation if:

• You own the plot, or hold it on a lease whose conditions you have not violated, inside a notified development area.
• The construction was completed before the scheme came into force.
• The building is structurally safe and does not affect public interest, public safety or any public activity.
• You can produce as-built plans authenticated by an architect registered with the Council of Architecture or a technical person registered under the Odisha Development Authorities (Common Application Form) Rules, 2016.
• The plot has an authenticated access or approach road.

You are not eligible, and the construction cannot be regularised, where:

• Construction stands on government land, land belonging to a local body, or any land not owned by the person who built on it.
• Construction sits over a public or private road, or on the alignment of a natural drainage, channel or a drain proposed in the Development Plan.
• Construction violates the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010; unless an NOC from the concerned authority is produced.
• Construction breaches Airports Authority of India height restrictions, again unless an NOC is produced.
• Construction violates zoning for an environmentally-sensitive zone, open space use zone or any other special land use zone in the Development Plan. In an open space use zone, for instance, coverage and height cannot exceed 40 per cent and 7 metres.
• Construction violates eco-sensitive zone norms notified by the Forest and Environment Department, without an NOC.
• Construction violates the coastal regulation zone or a sweet water zone restriction.
• The plot has no authenticated access or approach.
• A leasehold plot has been used in violation of the lease conditions.
• The building is a cinema hall or multiplex; no relaxation is given for these at all.

What relaxations does the scheme give?

The 2019 scheme is worth reading closely because the relaxations are generous for small plots and tighten as the building gets larger.

For non-high-rise residential plotted development up to 300 square metres, ground coverage of up to 100 per cent is allowed and setback and parking norms are not applied at all. Above 300 square metres the coverage ceiling drops to 75 per cent. Apartments must keep a 1.5 metre setback on all sides and meet 50 per cent of the parking requirement with the consent of the residents' welfare association.

For commercial buildings, plots up to 300 square metres get up to 100 per cent coverage with nil parking, plots between 300 and 500 square metres get 75 per cent coverage and 25 per cent of the parking requirement, and plots above 500 square metres get 70 per cent coverage with a 1.5 metre setback on all sides and 50 per cent parking.

For high-rise buildings, the setback requirement rises with height: 1.5 metres on all sides with a minimum 4.5 metres on at least two sides other than the front for buildings from 15 to 18 metres; a minimum 4.5 metre setback on all sides from 18 to 21 metres; and a minimum 6 metre setback on all sides above 21 metres.

Fire and structural safety are never relaxed. The owner must provide all fire prevention and safety installations required by the National Building Code, plus any additional measures recommended by the State Fire Service Organisation, along with an underground water tank and a terrace tank. Setbacks retained under the scheme must remain free of obstruction and open to sky.

How much does regularisation cost?

Compounding rate for built-up area deviation

Parking deficit charges per square metre

For a plot up to 100 square metres with a maximum built-up area of 150 square metres, a lump sum compounding fee of Rs 20,000 applies instead of the per-square-metre rate. In mixed-use buildings the rates apply pro rata, worked out from the ratio of the different uses in the total area. Built-up area can be regularised without any FAR limitation, subject to the beyond-FAR rate above.

Fees are paid to the Development Authority in one instalment, by two separate bank drafts drawn on a nationalised bank: one for the scrutiny fee and one for the compounding fee. Any differential amount assessed by the Authority must be paid within 30 days of intimation, and any excess deposited by the applicant is refunded without interest. Land conversion fees under Section 119(3) of the Act are payable separately. All compounding and kisam conversion fees collected go into the Development Authority's Comprehensive Development Plan Infrastructure Development Fund (CIDF).

How to apply for regularisation under Sarbakhyama Yojana

1. Engage an architect registered with the Council of Architecture or a technical person registered under the Odisha Development Authorities (Common Application Form) Rules, 2016. The application must be authenticated by one of them — an owner cannot file it alone.
2. Get the as-built drawings prepared in four copies: site plan, layout plan, floor plan, four side elevations, and the drainage and sewerage disposal plan, each signed by you and by the professional.
3. Obtain the required clearances, the structural safety certificate in Form-C, the fire safety NOC where the Odisha Fire Prevention and Safety Rules, 2017 apply, the peripheral infrastructure development certificate from the urban local body where applicable, and any ASI, Airports Authority or State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority NOC your building needs.
4. Prepare the affidavit in Form-B on peaceful possession, the two-angle attested photographs, the signed site inspection report, and the neighbour's NOC in Form-D if you are regularising with nil setback on any side. The neighbour's NOC is not required for plots up to 300 square metres, or where the neighbour is himself a setback violator.
5. Work out the fee on the compounding calculation sheet in Form-E. The scheme requires self-assessment, so this sheet is the number the Authority will check.
6. File Form-A addressed to the Vice-Chairman of your Development Authority, with the fee prescribed under the Odisha Development Authorities (Common Application Form) Rules, 2016, within the scheme window: six months from commencement under the 2019 notification, unless extended by the State Government.
7. Pay by two separate bank drafts and keep the registration number issued for office use. Respond to any observation the Authority raises, because an incomplete application is rejected and 10 per cent of the compounding charges is forfeited.

What happens after you apply

A complete application must be disposed of within six months of receipt. A panel drawn from the Development Authority, the Public Health Engineering Department and the urban local body carries out random site inspection. A summary of all constructions regularised under the scheme is published by public notice.

Three consequences of regularisation are worth knowing before you file. Regularisation confers no right, title or interest over the land. A building regularised once under the scheme will not be considered for regularisation again. And the Development Authority keeps the right to proceed against unauthorised constructions under the Act where a case cannot be regularised under the scheme.

Penalties and appeal

Where an application is incomplete or the applicant does not comply with the Development Authority's observations, the application is rejected and 10 per cent of the prescribed compounding charges is forfeited. Where facts have been misrepresented or suppressed, the entire compounding fee is forfeited, the regularisation permission is revoked, and the case is reported to the Council of Architecture, New Delhi for cancellation of the architect's licence or to the Director of Town Planning for cancellation of a technical person's registration. The scheme also provides for criminal prosecution of the applicant and of the professional who signed without verifying the facts.

Any person aggrieved by a Development Authority decision may appeal under the relevant sections of the Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982, and the Appellate Authority's decision is final. Disputes about how the scheme itself should be read are decided by the State Government, whose decision is final.

Where to get the forms and current window

Forms A to E are appended to the scheme notification published by the Housing and Urban Development Department at urban.odisha.gov.in, and are also available at the office of each Development Authority. Because the amnesty runs in time-bound spells that the State Government has extended more than once, including a 15-day extension announced in one round: confirm the currently open window directly with your Development Authority before commissioning drawings.

How to check your application status

Sarbakhyama Yojana runs as an offline, file-based process through the Development Authority, not through a tracked online portal, so status checking works differently from a typical DBT or e-service scheme.

• Keep your registration number safe. When you file Form-A, the Development Authority issues a registration number for office use. This number is what any status enquiry, written or in person, must reference. Without it, staff have to search files manually, which slows things down.
• Follow up at the Development Authority office that received your file, not at a state-level helpline: Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Cuttack Development Authority, and the other eight notified authorities each track their own applications separately. There is no unified statewide tracking number for Sarbakhyama files.
• Watch for a written observation or query. If the scrutiny officer finds a gap, the Authority sends a written observation asking you to respond or submit a missing document. Applicants should check with the office periodically rather than assume silence means approval, since a pending observation that goes unanswered can tip into rejection.
• Track the six-month disposal clock. A complete application must be disposed of within six months of receipt. If that period is running out and you have heard nothing, that is the point to visit the Authority in person or send a written reminder referencing your registration number.
• Ask specifically whether your file has gone to the site-inspection panel. The panel drawn from the Development Authority, the Public Health Engineering Department, and the urban local body carries out random inspections; if your file is with this panel, the next update typically follows the inspection visit.
• Check the public notice. The Development Authority periodically publishes a summary of buildings regularised under the scheme by public notice. A building appearing on this list has been finally approved; absence from it does not necessarily mean rejection, since the notice is a periodic summary, not a real-time log.
• For the current status of the scheme window itself (whether the amnesty is currently open, closed, or under an extension), check urban.odisha.gov.in or ask the Development Authority directly, since the filing window has been extended more than once and dates are not always reflected promptly on every office notice board.

Common reasons for rejection

Because Sarbakhyama Yojana regularises construction that already violates approved plans, the margin for error in an application is thin. These are the reasons applications are actually rejected, and what fixes each one.

• Construction stands on land you do not own or on government or local-body land. The scheme flatly excludes this category; no compounding fee can cure it. There is no fix within the scheme itself: this construction cannot be regularised under Sarbakhyama regardless of how the fee is calculated.
• The plot encroaches on a road, a natural drain, a channel, or a drain proposed in the Development Plan. Authorities check this against the Development Plan map during scrutiny. If even part of the built-up area sits on the alignment, the application is rejected outright. There is no waiver for this ground.
• A required NOC is missing. Construction near a protected monument, inside Airports Authority height-restricted zones, in an eco-sensitive zone, or in a coastal regulation zone needs a specific NOC from the concerned authority (Archaeological Survey of India, Airports Authority of India, Forest and Environment Department, or the coastal zone authority, as applicable). Applying without the NOC when the site falls in one of these zones is a rejection ground, not something the Development Authority can waive on its own. Fix: obtain the NOC before filing, since chasing it after a rejection restarts the process.
• The as-built drawings are not properly authenticated. The application must be authenticated by an architect registered with the Council of Architecture or a technical person registered under the Odisha Development Authorities (Common Application Form) Rules, 2016. A set of drawings prepared without this registered sign-off, or signed by someone whose registration has lapsed, is treated as incomplete. Fix: verify the professional's current registration before commissioning drawings, not after submission.
• Missing structural safety certification. Form-C, the structural safety certificate, is not optional paperwork; the scheme is explicit that structurally unsafe buildings do not qualify at all. An application without it, or with a certificate from someone not competent to issue one, gets kicked back. Fix: get the certificate from a qualified structural engineer before filing, and keep the supporting calculations available in case the Authority asks for them.
• No neighbour's NOC where one is required. For plots above 300 square metres seeking nil setback on any side, Form-D (the neighbour's NOC) is mandatory unless the neighbour is themselves a setback violator. Filing without it when your plot exceeds the 300 square metre threshold is a common, avoidable rejection ground. Fix: confirm your plot area against the 300 square metre threshold before deciding whether Form-D applies to you.
• The building is a cinema hall or multiplex. The scheme excludes this category entirely, with no relaxation. There is no fix: these buildings must pursue regularisation through some other legal route, not Sarbakhyama.
• Incomplete response to the Authority's written observation. When the scrutiny officer raises a query and the applicant does not respond adequately or on time, the application is rejected and 10 per cent of the prescribed compounding charges is forfeited. Fix: treat any written observation as time-sensitive and respond in full, with supporting documents, rather than a partial or delayed reply.
• Misrepresentation or suppression of facts. This is the most severe rejection ground. If the Authority finds that the applicant or the certifying professional concealed or misstated facts, the entire compounding fee is forfeited, the regularisation permission (if already granted) is revoked, the case is referred to the Council of Architecture or the Director of Town Planning for action against the professional, and criminal prosecution can follow. Fix: there is no fix after the fact; the only protection is ensuring the as-built drawings, affidavit, and site details filed genuinely match what stands on the plot.
• Filing after the scheme window has closed. Because the amnesty runs in a time-bound spell (originally six months from the 2019 notification, subject to State Government extension), an application filed after the window shuts is not accepted for processing. Fix: confirm the currently open window with your Development Authority or at urban.odisha.gov.in before commissioning drawings and paying the scrutiny fee, since drawings prepared for a closed window cannot simply be resubmitted once a new window opens without rechecking the applicable norms.