It has come to light that engineers in Odisha, entrusted with crucial welfare schemes for the integrated socio-economic development of tribal communities in scheduled areas, allegedly diverted a colossal ₹149 crore from government funds for their personal use. These expenditures reportedly included everything from house rent and insurance premiums to electricity bills.
This alarming revelation surfaced in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) compliance audit-civil report for the period ending March 2023. Presented to the Odisha Legislative Assembly, the report strongly suggests widespread irregularities within Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs), which were specifically established to spearhead development initiatives in tribal regions.
The audit found that ITDAs established bank accounts under the names of Assistant Engineers (AEs) and Junior Engineers (JEs) to facilitate work-related payments. However, a detailed examination of these accounts uncovered significant suspected misappropriation of public funds.
Between 2018-19 and 2022-23, the CAG conducted an extensive audit across 11 chosen ITDAs. During this period, investigators identified a total of 85 bank accounts managed by Junior and Assistant Engineers, ostensibly for departmental work execution.
Of these, transaction statements were available for 71 bank accounts, revealing that a staggering ₹621.79 crore in government funds had been transferred to them for various departmental projects.
Crucially, the CAG’s report highlighted that the transaction statements for 14 of these 85 bank accounts, linked to an equal number of Junior and Assistant Engineers, were withheld from the audit by the ITDAs, raising further red flags.
The report explicitly cited Rule 5 of the Orissa General Financial Rules, which unequivocally states that any government officer handling public funds bears personal responsibility. This includes ensuring strict adherence to all relevant rules, regulations, and orders during disbursement, along with maintaining meticulous records of every transaction to comply with fund utilization guidelines.
The apex audit agency uncovered numerous instances of highly suspicious transactions in these bank accounts, clearly pointing to potential misappropriation. These included unauthorized ATM withdrawals, self-drawn cheques, Point-of-Sale (POS) transactions at commercial businesses, payments for personal utility bills (mobile, electricity, water, and fuel), expenditures on e-commerce platforms, investments in mutual funds and the stock market, insurance premiums, and various UPI transactions – all completely unrelated to the departmental work they were meant for.
The CAG provided specific examples of government funds being used for personal gain. For instance, ₹1.81 lakh was reportedly transferred from an account managed by a Junior Engineer (JE) at ITDA, Paralakhemundi, directly to pay an insurance premium for Max Life Insurance Company. Another JE from ITDA, Thuamul Rampur, allegedly spent ₹51,230 on personal fuel costs via POS transactions. Furthermore, a JE from ITDA, Phulbani, made irregular payments totaling ₹36,000 for house rent from their official account between July and December 2020.
The audit agency emphasized that channeling all payments for departmental projects through the personal bank accounts of Junior and Assistant Engineers represents a severe breakdown in internal control. This critical flaw meant there was no reliable way to verify whether the reported works were actually carried out with the specified quantity and quality of materials and labor. The CAG concluded that this “lack of key controls” in work execution created a “high and material risk of misappropriation of government funds.”
This alleged fraud impacts a significant and vulnerable population. According to the 2011 census, Odisha’s tribal population stood at 95 lakh, making up 22.85% of the state’s total and 9.17% of India’s tribal population. To ensure their comprehensive development, an extensive area of 63,896 square kilometers within Odisha, encompassing 119 community development blocks (fully in six districts and partially in seven), is designated as a scheduled area under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.