The Zilla Adivasi Sangha of Nuapada has complained about misutilisation of funds of the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), which has spent Rs24 lakh at Kulekela village of Boden block during the year 2014-15.
The tribals have questioned the decision of the WODC to spend such a huge amount in a single village in a single year. Secondly, raising questions on the quality of the works, the tribals have said the funds have been misappropriated.
“We demand an inquiry on this matter,” said Sangha president Balakrushna Sabar. The funds have been utilised for construction of roads and guard walls. “There was no need to spend such a huge amount only in road construction. The decision making process of the WODC is questionable,” said Sabar.
“It seems the decision making in the WODC is manipulated; otherwise it would not have allowed worthless spending,” added Sabar. Raising questions on the quality of the works, he demanded a social audit of all the works.
It is learnt that the WODC has allocated more than a crore of rupees in the past few years in two panchayats of Boden block. Fund allocation by the WODC is always arbitrary. Neither the district administration nor the local elected bodies are involved in selection or location of the projects. The administration knows about it after being intimated by the WODC.
“The contractors and brokers have made the WODC a money-making mine. The kind of projects approved and quality of works done reveals that there is something wrong in decision making and supervision,” said Sabar.
He has filed a complaint in this regard with the district administration as well as with the WODC and demanded a thorough inquiry into all activities of the WODC in Boden block.