Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has suspended three secretaries of primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) in Sonepur district for allegedly vacationing in Thailand while on sick leave.
Those suspended are Manjay Dharua, Dhaneswar Sahoo, and Arun Pujhari from Sonepur’s Lachhipur, Mayurudan, and Rengali PACS, who were absent from August 8-11. While they were on sick leave, claiming to be ill, their social media posts showed them enjoying the sun and waves in Phuket and Pattaya.
Sonepur Collector Nruparaj Sahu confirmed that they were suspended on August 12.
Show-cause notices have also been issued to three more PACS secretaries from Boudh, who had joined their suspended colleagues from Sonepur on the Thailand trip. Registrar of cooperative societies (DRCS) in Boudh district, Girish Chandra Purohit, who accompanied them after getting permission, is also under inquiry. “I, too, had accompanied the six PACS secretaries to Thailand from Aug 8-11. Three secretaries from our district have received show-cause notices. I am also under departmental inquiry, although I had obtained prior permission for the trip,” Purohit told TOI.
Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, secretary of the state cooperation department, said the investigation is ongoing. “We are taking action against those found guilty of dereliction of duty,” Patil said.
The trip, sponsored by a private fertilizer company, coincided with a critical farming period when the secretaries were needed to manage farmer registration and fertilizer distribution. Their absence is said to have disrupted essential services for farmers. “Investigation is on. We are taking action against those found guilty of dereliction of duty,” secretary of the state cooperation department Rajesh Prabhakar Patil was quoted as saying.
