Major crackdown on ‘Pandian-style’ operations! Odisha CM seeks report on outsourcing in engineering departments

In a significant move, the Mohan Majhi government in Odisha has taken steps to identify the ‘Pandian (Former 5T Chairman VK Pandian) system’ within the govt administrative machinery and plug the same. 

According to an exclusive note accessed by OTV, the Chief Minister has instructed the Chief Secretary to open and review 10 years’ worth of files related to outsourcing across key engineering departments. The aim is to identify the extent to which private agencies were handed projects that could have been executed by in-house government engineers.

This development has sent shockwaves through five major engineering departments, signaling a potential structural overhaul. The CM’s note questions why, despite the government having capable and skilled engineers, even minor tasks such as surveys, feasibility studies, design, estimates, and DPR preparation are being outsourced.

The note criticizes the practice as an unhealthy tradition that undermines the expertise and efficiency of government engineers. It further adds that such decisions have cast doubt on the professional capabilities and experience of the state's engineering cadre.

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The CM has now sought a detailed report outlining which departments have outsourced work over the past decade, to which agencies, and at what cost. This marks the beginning of a larger effort to re-evaluate the outsourcing system and possibly restore more engineering functions to government departments.

"We can do the work with our own people. Why are we outsourcing then? It has a different reason. The consultancy that will be given the task will work as per the direction of the top official. The work order will be given as per the top official's instruction, and small contractors from here will not get the contracts," said former Chief Engineer Lalit Mohan Patnaik.

Focus on increasing capacities

The Chief Minister issued such a directive to the Chief Secretary after identifying this error in the government system in the month of May. CM Majhi has instructed to gather data from the past 10 years and also directed a detailed review on how the government’s own engineering department can be made capable of handling such tasks. Additionally, it has been asked to examine what modern machinery and equipment the engineering department needs. Following the Chief Minister’s directive, various departments have also been asked to submit relevant information.

The Minister of Works Department stated that since the new government came into power, several initiatives, including training programs, have been undertaken to strengthen the engineering department. Earlier, various outsourcing agencies had taken control over such work.

"The Chief Minister has shown interest in the government increasing its various capacities, and we have already started the process in this regard. The training programme is an example. The external agencies had taken control over the entire system for the last 15 years. It will diminish gradually," said Works Department Minister Prithviraj Harichandan.

Especially in the departments of Water Resources, Works, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Rural Development, and Urban Development, outsourcing agencies have held control for many years. After the Chief Minister’s recent crackdown, attention is now on how improvements can be brought into this system.