20 PROJECTS WORTH RS89L EXECUTED UNDER FORGED NODS

the pioneer

20 PROJECTS WORTH RS89L EXECUTED UNDER FORGED NODS
Monday, 28 April 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA

The Khariar Panchayat Samiti of Nuapada district has executed 20 construction projects with
an estimated cost of Rs89 lakh on forged approval and sanction orders. These projects implemented under the Biju KBK scheme in Khariar block in the year 2011-12 during the tenure of Janaki Ballhaba Mishra as the district Collector are neither in the Biju KBK approved list of the district nor have got technical and administrative sanctions of the concerned authority.However, surprisingly, the documents available in the office of the Block Development Officer, Khariar reveal that they have been duly approved by the District Planning Committee (DPC).

Verification of the records of the Block office also reveals that the estimates have got technical and administrative sanctions of the District Planning & Monitoring Unit (DPMU).“All the documents and correspondences available with the BDO, Khariar are forged,” alleged DPMU Deputy Director Somnath Kandeam.Kandeam has lodged an FIR in the Nuapada Police Station on March 28 last, stating that his office had not issued any letter to the block regarding the approval or implementation of the stated projects and all the documents and letters available with the BDO, Khariar were forged.

A case under Sections 419, 420, 468, 461 of IPC has been registered. There is no mention of any name in the FIR, because it is yet to be ascertained who has committed the forgery, said sources.“I came to know about the unapproved projects in the district planning meeting and became astonished. After verifying the records in our office, I found that the projects undertaken by the BDO, Khariar were not in the approved list. 

When I verified the documents available with the Block Office, I found that the signatures in the sanctioned orders were not mine and even the letter numbers and the dates had been forged,” said the Deputy Director. He further stated that the BDO, Khariar should have verified the sanctioned project list before the initiation of these non-approved projects. “When the approved project list of the district was available with the BDO, he should have referred to the available list before initiating the additional projects. We have sent a show cause notice to the BDO, Khariar to explain, but he has not answered,” added Kandeam. Rs23.5 lakh has already been paid in the meantime for five completed projects and part payments of Rs22.5 lakh for eight other projects has also been made on the basis of the forged sanctioned orders and approval of the estimates, he said.

It is interesting to note that all the letters and the estimates sent by the BDO, Khariar to the Deputy Director although did not reach the planning office, they were accorded approval. Someone in the Planning Unit must have been dealing with these letters independently without the knowledge of the Planning Unit and sending back the approval with forged signatures, confided sources.