Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: A senior Orissa Administrative Services (OAS) officer has been suspended Wednesday for dereliction in duty in the verification of the list of National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries just a day after Anita Behera resigned as Cuttack mayor over a controversy regarding her having a ration card.
Food supply and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma said Biswanath Sahu was suspended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for dereliction of duty during his stint as the additional commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).
The suspension of Sahu, who is at present the project director of the District Rural Development Agency of Subarnapur district in western Orissa, was done on the basis of the report of the Cuttack collector.
The state government had previously suspended two officials of CMC in this regard. The two officials — CMC community officer Arghya Pratap Mohanty and Municipality High School teacher Saroj Pratap — have been suspended by the CMC commissioner over the inclusion of Behera and her family members in the list of NFSA beneficiaries.
The opposition had voiced its protest and demanded Behera’s resignation. The Bharatiya Janata Party had staged demonstrations and Congress members had filed complaints against her. The Congress had also staged a demonstration in front of the collector’s office.
Meanwhile, the CMC commissioner said Wednesday that four squads have been formed to look into the ration card irregularities in Cuttack city.
The commissioner said he has written to the Cuttack collector to cancel the digitised ration cards issued to seven incumbent and two former corporators of the municipal body.
Sanjay Das Burma said his department is taking measures to address the issue.