Keonjhar: Funds of over Rs 700 crore belonging to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in this district have been misappropriated or spent by various departments without the approval of the trust board, sources alleged Tuesday. The matter became public after activist Subhakanta Nayak filed an application to get information about how the money has been spent under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
After he received the information, Nayak subsequently lodged a complaint with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and various other departments. In the copies he pointed out that in many cases funds have been spent without inviting tenders and observing DMF guidelines. He stated that large amounts have been sanctioned for departments that do not have the right to use DMF funds.
Sources said that if a proper investigation is carried out, the misappropriation amount could well be over Rs 2,000 crore. On receipt of the complaint, Ahuja has asked the collector of this district to conduct a probe and submit a report. Sources said funds worth Rs 250.41 crore has been sanctioned from DMF, Keonjhar to the district education officer, Rs 18.61 crore to OREDA, Bhubaneswar, Rs 48.20 crore to chief development officer, Zilla Parishad, Keonjhar, Rs 5 crore to district welfare office, Rs 14.55 crore to the district employment exchange, Rs 31.10 crore to the district fishery office, Rs 31.79 crore to the chief district veterinary officer (CDVO), Rs 28.68 crore to the Sericulture department, Rs 88.55 crore to the office of the district Horticulture department, Rs 8.38 crore to the executive engineer of Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation, Rs 3.5 crore to the office of the chief agriculture officer and Rs 59.81 crore to the district Social Welfare department.
However, the highest amount of Rs 102.89 crore has been sanctioned to the office of the district project coordinator.
Similarly Rs 42.50 lakh have been sanctioned to district manager, OFDC. Nayak in his application has sought information on how these funds have been spent. He stated that the concerned departments have not provided any information about the utilization of money. He has demanded stringent action against officials if they are found guilty of misappropriation.
Officials meanwhile informed that these funds have been spent to provide scholarship to meritorious students, purchase of study and allied materials for schools, solar light systems, smart projectors for panchayat libraries, street lights, fish cultivation, establishment of mega poultry farms, afforestation programmes, agriculture, crèche and towards expenditure for millet mission.
Sources alleged that funds are usually sanctioned at meetings of the DMF trust board. They pointed out that trust board does not have meetings on a regular basis. So it is all the more surprising as to how funds for various departments have been sanctioned. They added that funds are being misused as some temporary officials are in charge of the DMF.