Senior Accounts Supervisor Chintamani Naik of the Civil Supplies Department in the district was suspended on Tuesday.
Sources confirmed that due to inefficiency of the officers, the rice millers are cheating crores of rupees of the Government which is not easily recoverable.
The district administration is worried about mismanagement of Rs 8 crore in the department when an inquiry is still in progress.
Reports said that while the Bajrangbali Rice Mill at Pandaripathar has allegedly cheated the Government by not giving back rice of 34,575 quintal after custom milling, the department has held District Supplies Officer PDM Khosla responsible for the fake bank guarantee of Rs 1.10 crore given to the department by the said miller.
Besides, it is quite natural to suspect the department officials in not taking any action against the miller. The department cannot also sell the bank guarantees to recover the rice as those are fake ones. As per rules, the bank guarantees given should have been verified with senior bank officials within 15 days, which the department has not done.
Meanwhile, District Civil Supplies Officer has been asked by the State Supply Corporation to show cause. To get a clear picture about the irregularities, the corporation has entrusted a Rourkela-based organisation to make a special audit of the department’s accounts in Jharsuguda district.