Probe sought into working of social audit body

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, July 16: Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan has sought an inquiry into the functioning of the Odisha Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (OSSAAT).In an appeal addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha, the Abhijan submitted that OSSAAT, an independent unit set up by Odisha Government to conduct social audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) implementation had not conducted a single audit since its inception in 2012.State convener of the Abhijan Pradeep Pradhan pointed out in the petition that in a reply to an RTI query the State Government had said that no social audit had been conducted by Directorate of Social Audit in the State.Pradhan urged the Chief Secretary to constitute an Inquiry Committee to enquire into non-functioning of the Directorate of Social Audit in the State, non-cooperation of officials, if any to the Director, role of supervising authority over Directorate of Social Audit and the selection procedure followed for appointment of Director, Social Audit.He further demanded initiation of legal proceedings against former Director Manas Ranjan Mishra for his non-delivery of service and recovery of around Rs.10 lakh which had been paid to him for nothing.Mishra had joined as Director, OSSAAT in October 2012 and left the Directorate on March 2014.The Abhijan further prayed that the concerned authority be directed to take immediate step to make Directorate of Social Audit functional by appointing Director and other staff at the earliest and fix system of accountability for them so that wastage of public money will be checked.