Sambalpur: SDA is currently vacant, No new officers were appointed since the change of Secretary

Sambalpur: For the last 4 and a half years, the Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA) chairman’s post has been left vacant, while the state government has played with the people of Sambalpur and is no longer hiring for that vacant position. The Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA) is in charge of carrying out planned development in Sambalpur, the soul center of Western Odisha. After the last election of 2019, SDA Chief Vijay Mohanty resigned from his post and no one else has been appointed. In all other development authorities and corporations of the state, the ruling BJD has appointed its own party leaders to the posts of heads. In some places, even retired government employees have been rehabilitated, except in the case of SDA. In Sambalpur, many BJD senior leaders have been working tirelessly for the party for years, but none of them have been appointed to the post of chairman, so the development work in SDA has almost stopped due to the absence of a chairman.

The Authority meeting has not been held since 2019. People are forced to rush to the SDA office just because planning approval is required for the construction of houses. Due to the lack of an SDA officer, few bad unemployed workers and officials are receiving benefits. After initially harassing the people who applied for the plan pass, he then ordered the fake plan approvals to the applicants and then became wealthy overnight. Last September, SDA employee Laxminarayan Samal alias Bulu (32), steno Sudhanshu Pati, and three outsiders who cooperated with them, Bikash Jagat, Dambarudhar Tripathi, and Ajay Behera, were arrested in the first phase by the police. Later, the police arrested Architect Manas Chaini along with Bandita Mohapatra, SDA planning member and in-charge of city planning of the metropolitan corporation.

Initially, the police said that they cheated 3.31 crores from 54 people. However, after that, the allegations were pending. On the other hand, the government has not appointed anyone else in their place. An SMC official is carrying the extra charge of Planning Member, while Secretary Ajay Tiwari was transferred to the Housing and Urban Development Department on the 1st and told to join on the 2nd. No one else has been appointed in the place of Mr. Tiwari. When Mr. Tiwari was asked in this regard, he said that SDA is under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, so he is currently working in this department and there is a possibility that he will be posted to a new place soon. He said that he will soon join wherever he is posted.