Nayagarh/Ogadaon: A scam worth Rs 6 crore has been committed in a cooperative society in Nayagarh district. Financial wrongdoing has serious repercussions on the functioning of society as scores of depositors have been left high and dry without getting their deposit amounts back. The society is also allegedly headed towards bankruptcy, sources said. In the last four years, 11 staff members have been suspended and five data entry operators sacked for the irregularities in different societies of the district. Of the suspended staff, 10 are society secretaries and one has died.
However, three of them have been reinstated. According to reports, five years ago, deposits of 600 depositors amounting to Rs 6 crore had been misappropriated at Kural Cooperative Society. The matter was investigated and the society secretary Kalucharan Rout was suspended. An impression was given to people that an investigation is on, but in 2018, the irregularities were suppressed, it was alleged. However, the issue reappeared after a farmer in Kural village brought out a four-year audit report (Since 2016-17) on the irregularities through RTI queries.
In the audit report, the then secretary and the treasurer have been held responsible for 50 percent of the corruption in the society. The Assistant Auditor General of Cooperative Societies, Khurda, in his audit report had directed for recovery of Rs 3,16,731 from each of the two. Vigilance had arrested the then secretary, but he had managed to draw…
