Scam In Village Development Works: Odisha Lokayukta Notice To Six Officials

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Lokayukta has served notice to six officials on alleged financial irregularities in development works at Nagada village in Jajpur district.

The notice was served to the Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Block Development Officer (BDO), Sukinda, Executive Engineer (Rural Development), Executive Engineer, (Dhabalagiri),  Executive Engineer, Rural Water Supply And Sanitation (RWSS) and District Social Welfare Officer. They have to reply to the notice within six months.

The Lokayukta will again hear the case on December 9.

Notably, the state government had undertaken several measures to bring down malnutrition and boost development at the village after the death of 19 children at Nagada in July 2016. The state government had sanctioned Rs 23 crore for this purpose.

However, social activist Pradip Pradhan had alleged financial irregularities in the project and filed a petition in the Lokayukta.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recently directed the Odisha government to submit a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) on the steps it has taken so far to curb malnutrition among the children of Nagada village.

The NHRC directive came in response to a petition filed by human rights activist Akhand this August.