BHUBANESWAR: The chairman and managing director (MD) of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) appear to be on a collision course, with one cancelling the other’s official orders.
Senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi is the corporation’s chairman, while PCCF (Wildlife) Prem Kumar Jha holds charge as its managing director.
In a letter dated October 30, Jha cancelled an order issued by Sethi not to relieve an Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) officer, who was serving as the corporation’s junior administrative officer. Curiously, Sethi’s order was also issued on the same day.
In his letter, the IAS officer directed that the ORS officer concerned continue to discharge his duties as junior administrative officer at OFDC until further orders from the competent authority. The letter further stated that any request for his relief would be considered only upon receipt of the requisite orders and approvals from the competent authority, in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures. However, in his order issued on the same day, the OFDC MD stated that the junior administrative officer had already been relieved of his duties and, therefore, the chairman’s order could not be implemented.
Jha pointed out that the performance of the officer concerned had been found to be unsatisfactory and suboptimal despite repeated warnings and several opportunities to improve.
“Despite repeated warnings and opportunities... there has been no satisfactory improvement in his performance, and his continuance in the present assignment is no longer considered necessary,” the MD’s letter stated. In a letter dated June 25 this year, the OFDC chairman had also scrapped the transfer of 11 divisional managers ordered earlier by the MD, terming it unauthorised.
The latest development has triggered a flutter in bureaucratic circles. Sethi could not be reached for his reaction, while MD Jha declined to comment on the matter.
