Bhubaneswar: In the wake of allegations of corruption, the Odisha government on Thursday ordered immediate dissolution of the Nayagarh District Central Cooperative Bank Committee.
Official sources said that the Registrar of Cooperative Societies issued the suspension order while placing the bank under the administration of the district Collector of Nayagarh.
The order placing the management of the bank committed with immediate effect was issued in exercise of powers conferred on the Registrar sub-section (7) of Section 32 of the Odisha Cooperative Societies Act, 1962.
The action was taken after serious allegations against the bank committee surfaced following the appointment of SS Das Associates, a Nayagarh-based consultancy firm, to resolve the bank’s Rs 362 crore income tax fine.
It was alleged that the firm was paid Rs 2.1 crore, raising suspicion of the lack of competitive selection and legal procedures. The official notice was also stated to have carried many irregularities. The committee, led by its chairman, appointed the consultancy firm without proper procedures and unilaterally decided to pay consultancy fees at 1% of the demand, it was claimed.
Further investigation by senior officers showed possible misappropriation of funds and manipulation of the bank’s records. Additionally, the committee appointed a retired bank employee as an OSD to the President, violating existing regulations.
The findings further showed that the committee also decided on excessive remuneration, house rent, telephone, and entertainment allowances for the President, causing significant financial loss to the bank and its farmer members. In view of these findings, the Registrar dissolved the committee.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch is set to conduct further inquiries into these irregularities while the District Collector has been appointed as the administrator to manage the bank’s affairs until further orders, the sources added.
