Bhubaneswar: Most of the enquiries and investigation going on in the case of financial irregularities in the Odisha State Cooperative Bank are pending for years, statement of the state Cooperation Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said, Wednesday.
In a written statement before Odisha Assembly, the minister said that 32 tainted employees from the Odisha State Cooperative Bank were kept under radar. However the status of enquiry, as stated by the minister, revealed that enquiries against only seven out of the 32 named were completed while probe on most of the cases are still said to be still under way.
Moreover, in the long process of naming the errant and starting the proceedings against them, many of them have already retired. Many cases which have stretched over five years are yet to be completed. The minister’s statement claimed that the total amount of the financial irregularities of the bank was pegged at ` 9,75,53,753 (Rs 9 crore).
On the other hand, the same reply revealed that 17 cooperative banks from the state reported financial irregularities of around `32 crore. The minister also claimed that actions have also been taken against the errant in the central cooperative banks in the state.
The minister in his written report to Assembly said that 32 employees from the state cooperative bank and 129 employees from the central cooperative banks were involved allegedly in the misappropriations. He said that while departmental enquiries were held against the culprits, vigilance and other legal actions were also taken against many of them.
He also said that out of the 129 tainted officials involved in the irregularities in the central cooperative banks, six persons are dead now. It also said that departmental proceedings against 39 persons lead to actions against them. Minister’s reply also said that 44 cases in vigilance department were also registered against them while five such cases were referred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Eight of them were also held under the surcharge proceedings, the Assembly was told Wednesday.