3 Odisha Administrative Service officers among 8 forced to retire for corruption

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Friday gave compulsory retirement to eight government employees, including three Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officers, for their alleged involvement in corruption. All of them face vigilance cases.
This takes number of employees dismissed from government service in Naveen Patnaik government’s current term of two and half years for lack of integrity, inefficiency and immortality to 130.
The three OAS officers who were removed from service are Rama Chandra Panda, Gouranga Charan Mohanty and Alphonce Bilung, all three facing corruption charges.
Police had arrested Panda, former tehsildar of Nimapada in Puri district on November 2 for his alleged involvement in corruption. Panda, who was also in-charge sub-registrar of Nimapada, was found carrying unaccounted cash of Rs 5 lakh and five PAN cards in his name.
Mohanty, who is a former deputy collector in Jagatsinghpur, faces seven vigilance cases relating to misappropriation of government funds and irregularities in allotment of government schemes.
Bilung, former tehsildar of Lathikata in Sundargarh district and currently block development officer of Ambabhona in Bargarh district, faces three vigilance cases. He had allegedly shown undue favours to some people towards land conversion fee causing wrongful loss to the state exchequer.
The government also forced Bidhan Chandra Sahu, a former superintending engineer in Keonjhar district, to retire for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of incomes. The vigilance had intercepted him with Rs 10 lakh last month.
Two former child development project officers—Meena Patra and Puspanjali Ratha—have also been removed from government service for taking bribes. Patra was caught taking Rs 10 lakh from two self-help groups to supply chhatua (food supplement) last month. Her total assets detected so far is more than 1.8 crore. Ratha was caught taking Rs one lakh for appointment of an anganwadi worker.
Ajit Kumar Mohapatra, a former deputy superintendent of excise, Deogarh, and Pravakar Pradhan, a former cashier of Tihidi block, who were also caught taking bribes are among those sacked by the government.
“The chief minister has been always emphasizing on high degree of morality and integrity in public service. This is part of continuation of an ongoing drive against officers with dubious credentials,” a government officer said.
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