Supari against Bhasha Andolan: CM’s silence strongly suggests his involvement

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

As the founder of Bhasha Andolan, it was my august responsibility to expose why my former lieutenant Pradyumna Satpathy sabotaged the movement, hitting me hard with breech of trust. Details of the exposure are in these pages as well as in the pages of bhashaandolan.com in 33 episodes captioned “ଟଙ୍କା ପାଇଁ ଭାଷା ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନକୁ ଛୁରୀ ମାରିଛନ୍ତି ପ୍ରଦ୍ୟୁମ୍ନ ଶତପଥୀ; ମୁଖ୍ୟମନ୍ତ୍ରୀ ସଫେଇ ରଖନ୍ତୁ” (Pradyumna Satpathi has sabotaged Bhasha Andolan for money; Let the CM clarify).

Even as there is no clarification from the CM or CMO, my mail to him has neither been investigated into nor has been answered as yet. Is it because the CM is personally involved,as is suspected, in the blatant illegality resorted to in Mrs. Satpathy’s reemployment despite proven unauthorized absence from service for more than 10 years?

Here I am publishing the mail to the CM for public knowledge:

To:
The Hon’ble Chief Minister, Orissa

Sub: Nullification of manipulated reemployment of Ms. Masasi Sarangi and dismissal of S. Mohapatra, Undersecretary to Govt. in the Deptt. Of Higher Education necessary in terms of zero-tolerance to corruption

Ref: Directorate of Higher Education Order No.31012 dt.15.9.2018 read with Noting 11 by Suryanarayan Mohapatra, Undersecretary, Higher Education Dptt, dt.11 July 2018 in Notings for File No. HE-FEVI-MISC-0060-2018

Hon’ble Sir,

Even as I am in paucity of words to praise your epoch-making action against as many as 17 employees under the ‘zero-tolerance-to-corruption’ mission, I invite your kind attention to the necessity of similar action against one Suryanarayan Mohapatra, an Undersecretary to your Govt. in the Department of Higher Education who has evidently manipulated facts to help one Manasi Sarangi, a lecturer in Botany in an aided private College to get back her employment in the post she had abandoned 10 years ago in 2008 and against Ms. Sarangi, who has gained her employment through such manipulation.

This corrupt action would force the State Exchequer to cough minimum 1.5 Crores of Rupees up, if not intervened and the illicit employment given to Ms. Sarangi not nullified.

I am interested in the matter on two grounds; (1) I am a genuine taxpayer who wants his exchequer to stay safe from the scheming looters and (2) Ms. Sarangi has been helped by your Govt. to gain over my close colleague in Bhasha Andolan Pradyumna Satpathy to sabotage the movement, a suspicion that I never cherish.

I had interaction with persons concerned who have confided in me that, they had to do this notorious file work under heavy pressure from the third floor. But I believe, behind your back, your Office has organized this illegality. Therefore, I beseech, an urgent investigation be ordered into this in order to find out the truth and to eliminate the suspicion.

NOW TO THE FACTS:

1. At Para 3 of her affidavit 4.12.2013 submitted also to the Principal Secretary , Higher Education, Orissa, Ms. Sarangi has confessed that she was under leave “Under Compelling Circumstances”, which means, she was not ill and not on leave under medical advice, when she left her job in July 2008.

2. In Order to subject her to disciplinary proceedings for unauthorized absence/abandonment of service, the Govt. had issued the following order (Order No. 13290/HE dt.22.6.2015) to the Director, Higher Education.

“Smt. Manasi Sarangi,Lecturer in Botany, U.N.(Auto) College of Sc & Tech, Adashpur, Cuttack has not been performing her duties since 02.07.2008 in the said College.

Therefore, the Govt. have decided to transfer and post her in any other College in and around Bhubaneswar on the following conditions:

1. The period of absence may be treated as breakage of service and she will not claim any benefit for the said period.

2. She will submit an undertaking in shape of affidavit to this effect.

3. DHE will issue the placement order after obtaining the said affidavit.

4. A disciplinary proceeding shall be initiated against her under Rule 22 of the Orissa Education (Recruitment and Condition of Service of Teachers and Members of the Staff of Aided Educational Institutions) Rules, 1974.

The DHE was apparently gained over not to carry out the above Order of the Government despite repeated reminders.

3. When Pradyumna Satpathy was gained over with assurance to help his wife get back the employment if he really sabotages the Bhasha Andolan, a Committee was formed with Additional Secretary Krupasindhu Mishra, as proposed by Mishra himself, to overcome the outstanding impact of the above Order dt. 22.6.2015 and this Committee took the following decision on 22.6.2018:

1. In supersession of all orders passed on the issue, Smt. Manasi Sarangi will be instructed by the DHE to join in her present place of posting, i.e. U.N.(Auto) College, Adashpur within seven days of receipt of the order.

2. She shall submit an undertaking through affidavit with her joining report before the Principal to abide by future Govt. decision regarding her absent period.

3. The Principal will be instructed to accept the joining of Smt. Sarangi and to allow her to work until further Govt. orders.”

Firstly, the Committee was a farce contrived to supersede the Government Order that had determined that, Smt Sarangi “has not been performing her duties since 02.07.2008” and secondly, this Committee was pregnant with a design to do away with the earlier Government Order that, she shall be subjected to “disciplinary proceeding” for this serious offence against the students, with the stipulations that, “the period of her absence may be treated as breakage of service and she will not claim any benefit for the said period”.

Yet, in decision No. 2, this Committee had also wanted her to “submit an undertaking through affidavit with her joining report before the Principal to abide by future government decision regarding her absent period.”

Pradyumna Satpathy, husband of Smt Sarangi was, as per my sources, detecting terms to the 3rd floor for bartering Bhasha Andolan and shenanigans that followed strongly suggest that the 3rd floor had agreed to drop the said decision No.2 of the Committee headed by the Additional Secretary, HE.

The Section Officer in the HE department was pressurized to create suitable condition in the file to suppress the Committee decision dt.22.6.2018 completely and to advance views conducive to unconditional reinstatement of Smt Sarangi. The Section Officer refused.

Then an undersecretary, by name Suryanarayan Mohapatra, was prevailed upon to handle the file to make out a case in favour of Smt. Sarangi. Only a crime branch or vigilance enquiry can reveal whether or not his palms were greased.

This undersecretary bulldozed all the government decisions in the matter and in his Noting , i.e. Noting 11 dt.11 July 2018, changed the already determined and evidently clear ‘non-performance of duties’ to ‘enforced idleness’. When Order of the Government dated 22.6.2015 clearly mentions that Smt Sarangi “has not been performing her duties since 02.07.2008”, this undersecretary stated that, “as per” the above order, “she is out of service from 02.07.2008 and for none of her faults she is kept out of service and has not been allowed to join in duty and perform her duties for the cause of the College”. This undersecretary was so very motivated to make out a case in favor of Smt. Sarangi, that, he has further noted, “when she has obtained medical certificate it was not also accepted at any level. Therefore gross illegality has occurred in case of the applicant.” Clearly the undersecretary has played the tricks. Firstly, despite having mentioned of the affidavit of Smt. Sarangi dated 4.12.2013, he is conspicuous by his attempt to suppress Smt Sarangi’s confession at Para 3 of her affidavit that, she “was on leave” “under compelling circumstances”, not on medical ground. Secondly, even though this undersecretary has mentioned of medical certificate and declared most arbitrarily that, “when she has obtained medical certificate it was not also accepted at any level” and “Therefore gross illegality has occurred in case of the applicant” he has not cited the medical certificate and the period covered by that. In reality, the same certificate in the file, was no medical certificate worth cognizance. It shows that this undersecretary has misled the Government by his deliberate wrongful Noting and paved the way for illicit employment of Smt Manasi Sarangi who is evidently guilty of abandonment of service since 02.07.2008.

Dear Chief Minister, it is quite disturbing to note that Pradyumna Satpathy, whom I had appointed as the President of Bhasha Andolan to carry out my mission of mass awakening to the danger to our mother tongue, has been used to derail the most unique peaceful movement by offering him a very big bonanza through reinstatement of his wife in the job she had abandoned for 10 years and that, an undersecretary, if not under political pressure, probably under flow of bribe, has arbitrarily bulldozed all earlier government decisions to make out a case in favor of Smt. Sarangi.

I request you to please nullify the illicitly obtained employment of Smt.Sarangi, presently a lecturer in Botany, Sishu Ananta Mahavidyalaya, Balipatna, Cuttack for the corruption evidenced in the official Notings cited above and to dismiss Suryanarayan Mohapatra for his corrupt conduct discernible in the Noting (Noting 11, dt 11 July 2018) he has misled the government to fetch reinstatement of Smt. Sarangi, which is a reward for her gross misconduct.

If zero-tolerance-to-corruption is a mission you sincerely espouse, this is a fit case for you to act.

Kind Regards,

Yours,

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak,
Founder of Bhasha Andolan, Orissa.
27.8.2019

CM’s nonchalance notwithstanding, my mail to Governor has forced the department to punish her with denial of her wages for the entire period of unauthorized absence, i.e. 10 years.

Thus, the 10 years of absence from service by Smt. Sarangi is confirmed as unauthorized absence and the only treat legally available to her is termination of service with retrospective effect from the date of her absence.

Chief Minister is duty-bound to ask the concerned Secretary to dismiss Smt Sarangi with retrospective effect and to take prompt disciplinary action against the then undersecretary Suryanarayan Mohapatra, who had created misleading notes to help her regain the job.

Any delay in dismissing Manasi Sarangi is bound to add legitimacy to the suspicion that the CM had given her husband Pradyumna Satpathy a lucrative “supari” in form of her reinstatement in blatant violation of the Orissa Education Act, 1969 and the Orissa Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules 1962 as well as the Finance Department circulars dated 9.10.2002, dated 15.12.2006 and Health Department Notification dated 13.3.2018. This illegal reinstatement of Smt Sarangi sharply violates the Case Laws laid down as in Pyare Lal Sharma Vrs MD, J&K Industries Ltd, 1989 AIR 1854 and Vijay S. Sathaye v. Indian Airlines Limited and others, (2013) 10 SCC 253.

Illicit greasing of anybody’s palm by the Government to sabotage Bhasha Andolan is the last offence for us to countenance.

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