Rayagada: Strict discipline marked the first district-level grievance hearing of the year in Odisha’s Rayagada on Monday as District Collector Asutosh Kulkarni stopped officials who arrived late from joining the session.
Sources said the hearing began at 10 am in the District Parishad Conference Hall and the Collector arrived at the venue on time. However, several senior officials had to face embarrassment as they failed to reach there by the stipulated time.
Taking a serious note of the delay, the Collector instructed security staff not to allow latecomers inside. Even the Rayagada Sub-Collector was denied entry for arriving late.
As per information, those stopped from entering included the District Excise Superintendent, District Panchayat Officer, District Social Security Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, District Information and Public Relations Officer, Rayagada BDO, an Assistant Conservator of Forests, officials of the Rural Drinking Water Supply department and several others.
The officers were forced to wait in the nearby Innovation Cell as the grievance hearing continued for over an hour.
The collector took this step in line with the state government’s directive to give top priority to public grievances and to take strict action against officials showing negligence in such programmes.
