Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Bureaucrats are not carrying out the instructions of the State government and the orders of ministers are buried under red tape - these were the serious allegations that were brought by Damodar Rout two weeks before he was sacked as Agriculture minister. OTV has obtained documents which reveal that in a note sheet which Dama Rout sent to the secretary of his department, he highlighted 'violation of rules of business and disobedience of government order.'

In an official communiqué on December 15, 2017, Rout clearly stated that the Principal Secretary of Agriculture department ignored the directive of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Dama also highlighted the department’s failure to carry out an order of the Orissa High Court.

As per Dama’s note sheet, Ashok Sethy, who works as the Assistant Director of Horticulture department, has been on leave for five years without pay due to a wrong directive of the department.

"The government had given him a promotion on May 30, 2008. But, after one year and three months, Sethy was demoted on July 23, 2009. He had appealed before the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) and the Orissa High Court against the decision of the State government. Later, the tribunal and the HC pronounced the verdict in Sethy’s favour," the note sheet read.

Meanwhile, the State government filed a special leave petition in Supreme Court. Although the apex court has not put a stay, the State government did not oblige with the HC order, the note sheet mentioned.

Rout had asked the Agriculture department to take the advice of the Law department and resend the file to the Chief Minister. However, neither the directive was carried out nor the file was sent to the Chief Minister, his letter stated.

Surprisingly, with only 15 days left to his retirement, whether Sethy will get justice is a big question now.

“Both the tribunal and the HC pronounced the verdict in Sethy’s favour. But, he was not given the appointment letter. The State government left him in lurch for more than a year and later moved the apex court. When the matter came to my notice, I had written the note to the department. As the apex court has not given an interim stay, decision of the HC should have been carried out which is our responsibility. If he is not reinstated, it would be an injustice to him,” Dama stated.

On the other hand, Sethy said, “I believe, although the government has taken a decision, some officers especially in the Agriculture department are opposing it repeatedly. I cannot tell who is involved, but they might be opposing my promotion.”

The current Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy was not available for comments.

Meanwhile, the ruling-BJD said bureaucrats need to carry out the ministers' directive and if there is any deviation, action should be taken as per the rules.

“Usually administrators should carry out a minister’s directive, which is also an order from the government. If there is any deviation, we have provisions under rules of business for action,” said Amar Prasad Satpathy, BJD spokesperson.

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