Panchayat minister suspends two officials

Odisha's Panchayati Raj Minister Pradeep Maharathy today suspended two government employees and issued show cause notice to eight others on charge of dereliction in duty.
The action was taken against the officials when the minister in a surprise visit went to Salipur block office in Cuttack district. The officials duo, who have been placed under suspension were: Assistant Block Development Officer (ABDO) Prasanna Kumar Mallick and accounts officer Bharati Priyadarshani of Salepur block.
Besides the duo, eight other officials were absent when the Minister made a surprise visit to the block office. Maharathy also asked officials to issue show-cause notices to eight officials including the block development officer (BDO).

The minister expressed his concern over the state of affairs at the block offices in the sensitive coastal district. "I fail to imagine what will be the situation in remote areas," Maharathy said giving a strong signal to the officials that the government would not tolerate such kind of attitude among the employees.