Former Sundargarh Collector Rashmita Panda, who is accused of bypassing the tender process, has been served a notice by the Lokayukta asking her to submit her reply in the matter by August 21.
The IAS officer is accused of misusing his position by spending a huge amount of Rs 70 lakh on renovation of her residence-cum-office in Rourkela.
The expenditure incurred for renovation of her Government quarter came to the fore following a reply by the Rourkela Development Authority to an application filed by RTI activist Rashmi Ranjan Padhi.
The RTI reply says Panda had spent a total of Rs 68,57,950.42 for renovating her official residence at Uditnagar in Rourkela in six months without any open tender while she was the Vice-Chairperson of Rourkela Development Authority (RDA) and the CEO of Rourkela Smart City Authority.
Following the expenditure being brought in public domain, the State Government transferred her and appointed her as the Director of Employment-cum-Chief Executive Officer of Odisha Skill Development Authority.