Odisha Govt Gears Up To Implement Lokayukta Act

Bhubaneswar: After a gap of more than three years, the Odisha government has finally decided to implement the Lokayukta Act with a gazette notification to this effect.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved it on Saturday.

Apart from this, the government has also come up with another gazette notification for formation of a search committee for the appointment of the Lokayukta.

Taking note of the directive of the Supreme Court to the chief secretary to submit a status report before July 10, the chief minister had asked the authorities and departments concerned to complete the process for appointment of Lokayukta at the earliest, reliable sources said.

Notably, Odisha had become the first state in the country to pass the Odisha Lokayukta Bill in the State Assembly on February 14, 2014, after the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament in December 2013.

However, the state government since then had not issued a gazette notification.

According to the provision of the Odisha Lokayukta Bill, a three-member committee will be formed under the chairmanship of the chief minister with the Assembly Speaker and Leader of the Opposition as members. The committee will recommend the name of the other members of the committee, who will be appointed by the Governor.

Later, a selection committee comprising these four members with the chief minister as its chairman will be formed in which the Principal Secretary, General Administration, will be the secretary of the committee. This committee will select the chairperson and the members of the Lokayukta Mandal.

The selection committee will form a five-member search committee. The term of the committee will be of two years while its members will conferred with facilities of an officer in the rank of the secretary. For the post of Lokayukta chairperson, the committee will select five persons while for the appointment of five members, it will select 15 persons and recommend their name to the selection committee. The selection committee will later select a 6-memeber Lokayukta Mandal including the Lokayukta chairperson.

The Odisha Lokayukta Bill has kept the chief minister, former chief ministers, council of ministers, elected political representatives and bureaucrats within the ambit of the powers of the Lokayukta.

Taking strong exception to the inordinate delay in the appointment of Lokayukta, the Supreme Court on April 19 this year had outright rejected the six-month time requested by the state government for the appointment of the Lokayukta and directed it to submit a status report by July 10.