Balasore: With nine out of 15 sanctioned posts lying vacant at the Balasore Regional Improvement Trust (BRIT) for several months, development in the district has been seriously affected.
The trust is an important organisation of the state government and district administration. Its main job is to approve various plans, including construction of roads, illumination, construction of parks, beautification of parks, construction of drains, land sale and construction of buildings and apartments.
It is alleged that the trust’s normal functioning has been affected seriously for it is currently being managed by only six staff against 15 sanctioned posts.
The developmental projects in Jaleswar and Soro municipalities and Nilagiri NAC are executed through this trust. This apart, as many as 206 revenue villages are also under the trust.
For the smooth functioning of the trust, it has 15 sanctioned posts, including a secretary, two junior engineers, two amins, four chainmen and six clerks and peons. As of now, a secretary, a junior engineer, one chainman, three clerks and peons are managing the work of the trust somehow.
Because of staff crisis, the trust fails to perform up to the mark. In the past, there were incidents wherein people created ruckus at the trust office for not getting proper service.
According to the revised plan of the trust, which has been in force since 1957, the chairman of the trust has the power to approve works up to Rs 1 lakh. This is also causing trouble for carrying out developmental works.
The trust’s chairman post is also lying vacant since 2019. The District Collector is in-charge of this post.
When contacted, trust secretary Nabin Kumar Singh said the vacant posts need to be filled up and the revised rate plan need to be changed for development in areas under the trust. While the amin post is lying vacant, the chainman is presently managing the dual jobs. The chainman is going to retire. In such a situation, the vacant posts should at least be filled up at the earliest.
When contacted, former BRIT chairman Gouri Rout said, “I retired in July, 2019. The district Collector has since been in-charge of this post. The trust has crores of rupees but no discernible developmental work has taken place in last two and a half years. “The works of the trust have confined only to approving building plans and sale of land. Political conflicts can be ascribed to the chairman post lying vacant,” added Rout.
PNN