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A government official's demand for illicit favour has come to the fore while reportedly trying to settle a compensation case of some oustees of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) mining project in Sundargarh.
The matter came to the limelight after an audio clip of a Revenue Inspector (RI), demanding a bribe from a displaced for forwarding his file to higher authority for approval went viral on social media.
As per reports, Bhaskar Badhei, a resident of Kurumakel village under Lefripada block, who is a displaced of MCL's Mahalaxmi project, has levelled such serious allegations against RI Amiya Chhura.
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Badhei said that he inherits his grandmother's land of 3.24 acre in Jhupuranga village under Hemagiri block, but the said plot has now been acquired by the MCL for its new project and so he is supposed to get over Rs 95 lakh as compensation for the property he had to leave out to the company.
However, Badhei has alleged that when he approached the authorities to get his due compensation, the RI demanded Rs 2 lakh as a bribe from him to forward his file to the higher authority and carry out the formalities for compensation faster.
Supporting his claims, Badhei has an audio clip that discloses his interaction with Chhura. Moreover, the audio clip also makes clear that even middlemen also have to pay bribes to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) and RI to get the compensation amount.
"I had called him over the phone and recorded the entire interaction. During the phone call, he asked me to give Rs 2 lakh for forwarding my file for the settlement and make the approval quicker," alleged Badhei.
It is pertinent to mention here that, since 1993, people in Hemagiri block of Sundargarh have been displaced from their lands following the land acquisition by MCL for coal mines.
However, Additional Collector, Sundergarh, Biswajit Mohapatra refuted the allegations of bribery during the settlement of displaced when inquired about the same. "The allegations levelled up against the RI are completely fake. We haven't received any 'viral audio clip' and have no information about it."
"The settlement works and all other processing is done transparently with fair practices within a restricted time frame," he added.
Meanwhile, Sundergarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said, "I had received a complaint regarding a RI demanding favour for settlement of compensations for displaced in MCL's land acquisition. I had discussed the matter with ADM. We will ensure to continue zero tolerance and we have been strictly ordering everyone to maintain transparency while settling the compensation amount for every displaced. No one has to offer anything to anyone. We will rectify all the issues and actions will be taken after receiving the investigation report."
