A huge uproar ensued at the Belpada block office in Bolangir district on Thursday after senior BJP leader & former MLA Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo came down heavily on the Block Development Officer (BDO) for alleged unequal distribution and diversion of funds in the block.
The former Patnagarh MLA slammed the BDO for allegedly running the administration on his own terms and questioned him on the diversion of funds meant for development works.
The video of the former MLA and the BDO getting into a heated argument is now going viral on social media. The video shows the former legislator slamming the government official after being unsatisfied with the latter's explanation.
Deo can be heard saying, “The ward member will take care of all the problems in a ward, Samiti members will take care of the problems in a block, Zilla Parishads in districts, MLA at the state level and MPs will handle problems at Delhi-level. BDO is nobody. You are just a peon, a clerk and get your salary from public money. So, don’t try to be a messiah.”
According to sources, the BDO has been accused of diverting zilla parishad funds. Enraged over his tactics, two Zilla Parishad members have been sitting on protest in the block office for the last two days.
On being apprised of the matter, KV Singh Deo reached the block office today and enquired about the matter. He then questioned the BDO and reprimanded him after failing to get satisfactory answers.
On the other hand, locals also accused the BDO of inordinate delay in the issuing of birth, death, residence and caste certificates. They alleged the officials were intentionally delaying the issue of these certificates to take bribes.
The Zilla Parishad members have demanded the immediate suspension of the BDO and a probe into the incident.
Both Deo and the BDO were not immediately available for comments on the matter.
(Reported by Ghateswar Mishra, Karunakara Budek, OTV)