Govt Orders Probe & Freezing of Tehsildars’ Bank Accounts
Financial Irregularities
A huge financial controversy has arisen between the Odisha Revenue Department and Panchayati Raj Department. This controversy is related to the collecting and depositing of minor mineral royalty.
As per the audit report, ₹283 crore was collected from 2023-24 to 2025-26. But the authorities had failed to deposit the funds directly into the government treasury.
In fact, the royalties were deposited into the bank accounts of different tehsildars. Thus, the matter has created serious doubts regarding financial management.
The Panchayati Raj Department has decided to act now. Special Secretary Suryanarayan Das wrote to Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue Department.
He demanded a full inquiry into the whole transaction process. Besides, he also demanded freezing the bank accounts of the tehsildars concerned, if required.
As per the audit report, the Panchayati Raj institutions collected the minor mineral royalty. But, the money was deposited in the bank accounts of the tehsildars.
Under the government guidelines, all revenues collected must be deposited in the treasury without fail. Thus, the mentioned process did not adhere to the prescribed procedure for collecting and accounting for such revenues.
The officials have instructed the district authorities to properly scrutinize each transaction of the royalties. They have also instructed to check the balances in the concerned bank account.
If necessary, the authorities should freeze the accounts instantly. Then, they have to deposit the full amount in the government treasury without fail.
Besides this, the Panchayati Raj department has made it mandatory for all the local bodies to adopt the new process. From now onwards, they have to deposit all the minor mineral royalty directly in the government treasury through Cyber Treasury system.
Financial Irregularities
