The Government of Odisha has dismissed senior IAS officer and former Managing Director of the Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation (ORHDC), Vinod Kumar, following his conviction on corruption charges. Kumar is the first IAS officer to be dismissed from service in the State.
During his tenure as MD of the ORHDC, the 1989 batch IAS officer illegally sanctioned housing assistance to the tune of ₹33.34 crore to fake firms and individuals, the State Government said in a statement here on Wednesday.
“The State government has always taken strong action on the issue of corruption. The government is committed to take exemplary action against people involved in corruption, no matter how highly positioned they are,” the government said.
The State government had recommended the dismissal of the IAS officer from service, which was later approved by the Centre.
The scam dates to the period soon after Odisha was hit by a super-cyclone in 1999, when a housing programme was taken up in a big way. Kumar’s actions led to a huge financial loss for the State government. As many as 27 vigilance cases were filed against him; he was convicted in two cases.
In 2018, a special vigilance court convicted Kumar and five others in ORHDC, sentencing them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
A senior Indian Forest Service office (IFoS), Abhaykant Pathak, was sacked from service recently on corruption charges.
