Bhubaneswar:The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has issued a bailable arrest warrant against senior IAS officer and Principal Secretary of the ST & SC Development Department Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra for non-compliance with its orders.
The warrant pertains to a case involving the death of a seven-year-old girl at a government residential school at Budrukia under Balikuda block in Kandhamal district on June 25, 2024, due to alleged negligence by school authorities.
Following media reports of the incident, advocate and rights activist Prabir Kumar Das filed a petition with the OHRC, demanding action against the officials concerned and Rs 10 lakh in compensation for the bereaved family. The OHRC had ordered Mishra to submit a fact-finding report, issuing directives on July 4, 2024, October 4, 2024, January 28, 2025, and April 22, 2025. However, he failed to comply.
A summons was issued on June 3, 2025, requiring his personal appearance before the OHRC on July 4, 2025, which he also ignored.
Consequently, the OHRC issued a bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 with one solvent surety, directing Bhubaneswar DCP to execute it and ensure Mishra’s presence on August 12, 2025, at 11 am to explain his non-compliance.
The activist alleged that Mita Mallick, a class II student, was diagnosed with malaria during a routine check-up at the school hostel in Sarukoi village. The following day, her condition worsened, and she was taken to a hospital in Baliguda, where she was declared dead.
The Integrated Tribal Development Agency’s project administrator, the district welfare officer, and the sub-divisional medical officer conducted a joint inquiry into the incident. Based on it, the Kandhamal administration suspended hostel’s assistant superintendent Nakhetramala Sahu for alleged negligence in admitting the child to the hospital after she was found suffering from malaria. The hostel matron was also transferred.
The Chief District Medical Officer of Kandhamal was also directed to issue a show-cause notice to the community health officer, who conducted the health check-up, for failing to test the girl for anaemia and referring her to the hospital upon detecting malaria.
