Baripada: The Odisha government has issued a notification withholding the salaries of 843 officers in Mayurbhanj district for dereliction of duty. These officers failed to complete the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in rural areas of the district.
Mayurbhanj District Collector Hema Kanta Say has instructed the BDOs in all the blocks of the district to issue letter to the erring officials in this regard. A departmental letter (No. 8459) dated October 28, 2024, was issued directing that the salaries of the concerned officers will not be disbursed till they achieve the target for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
According to reports, 1,026 officers had been assigned to the PMAY rural housing construction projects in the district. After verification, it was found that only 173 of them had completed the work assigned to them, while the performances of the remaining 843 were not satisfactory.
While examining the projects, it was found that these officers failed to complete their work due to a lack of field visits and proper monitoring. The inspecting authorities found that 63 per cent of the houses under the PMAY were not completed. The district administration termed the entire development as ‘unfortunate’.
The District Collector has asked concerned officials to withhold the salaries of the 843 from October 2024 and it will only be released after the completion of the pending works. Giving utmost importance to achieving the objectives of the government, letters have been issued to 26 BDOs in the district for proper monitoring and completion of the pending works by the departmental officers as soon as possible.
