Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
I have put on records in my book captioned DANAR TOBADA the details of how Chief minister Naveen Patnaik could pet my close associate in Bhasha Andolan Pradyumna Satpathy to use him in sabotaging the unique movement for governance of Orissa in Oriya. The incumbent Secretary of HE, Bishnupad Sethi was the Secretary of the said department when Satpathy’s wife Manasi Sarangi was illegally reinstated as Lecturer, Botany in a new College, even thogh she had no entitlement to the job after remaining unauthorisedly absent for more than 10 years from her original college UN (Auto) College of Sc. & Tech, Adashpur, which had resolved to dismiss her and waiting for official approval. Sethi at that time had created an observation in the file, that she was not absent from duty, but was kept away from duty. Had I not intervened, she could have got unbroken service, which could have given her around a crore of rupees towards back wages, the de facto beneficiary being Satpathy.
Under the statute, she should have made herself available for the punishment of dismissal in the new College, but she is continuing to draw monthly salary from the government through the place of her posting. This illegality is continuing when the same Sethi has been posted the Secretary of the same department under orders of the Chief Minister.
I have addressed the following mail to the Secretary today with a copy thereof each to the Governor of Orissa, Chief Minister of Orissa and the Chief Secretary of Orissa seeking their intervention to do away with the continuing illegality.
Its Subject is: Continuance of contempt against the Governor’s order in the matter of Ms. Manasi Sarangi , illegally posted as lecturer in Botany in Shishu Anant Mahavidyalaya, Balipatna, Khurda
Order No. 9946 SG (ptn) from the Governor of Orissa dated 2.8.2019 to the Commissioner-cum- Secretary to Govt. of Orissa, Department of Higher Education, Bhubaneswar has been refered to.
Sir,
In enclosing my Memorandum dated 22.7.2019 in original, His Excellency the Governor of Orissa in his Order under reference had directed you to take needful action in the matter at your end and to send me the action taken report.
You have not yet done it.
In the said memorandum, my demand for action was in two matters:
1. In order to weaken Bhasha Andolan, the Chief Minister had purchased allegiance of one of my close colleagues, namely Pradyumna Satpathy by offering him fabulous financial rewards in form of backwages of his wife Manasi Sarangi, who, as a lecturer in Botany in the UN (Auto) College of Sc.& Tech., had abandoned her duties for more than 10 years. She was to draw stupendous amount of money as her backwages and therefore, despite objections of the Director, Higher Education, the then Secretary, HE, Sri Bishnupad Sethi had created a situation to reinstate her in service with retrospective effect by showing that she was never absent from duty, but was kept out of duty by the College authorities. I had wanted action against this design to save the State exchequer from coughing off huge money as illegitimate back wages to the wife of the saboteur of Bhasha Andolan, Mrs. Manasi Sarangi. Needless to say, I had pressed for the quashing of the order of reinstatement on the ground shown as continuance of her service on the basis of the crafted conclusion of ‘denial of duty’.2. With her wilful unauthorised absence for more than 10 years, she had no legal right to remain in service. Therefore, she should be dismissed from service with retrospective effect from the date of her unauthorised absence, so that in future the State exchequer would not be forced to pay her salary and other benefits howsoever illegal.
From Memo No.18760/HE. dated 13.9.19 of the Secretary H.E., communicated to the Principal, Shishu Ananta Mahavidyalaya, Balipatna, Khurda, where Smt. Sarangi is illegally posted, it is established that she had remained absent from duty unauthorisedly for a period of more than 10 years without any valid reasons” (Para 5 of the Memo.). On the basis of this official determination, the subsequent Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of HE, Sri Saswat MIishra had pronounced an ORDER on .11.9.19 which is worded as quoted below:
“The period of absence from 02.07.2008 to 23.07.2018 will be treated as breakage in service. She will not get any salary or consequential benefit for that period on the principle of no work no pay. This period shall not be counted for career advancement and pension.”
By this Order, the Secretary has erred against the State.
Law has not given any carte blanche to the Secretary of Higher Education department to contravene the stipulations laid down under Rule 72 of the Service Code that enforces the removal of employees after remaining on leave for a continuous period exceeding five years. When sub-rule (1) of this Rule stipulates that, no employee shall be granted leave of any kind for a continuous period exceeding five years, sub-rule (2) makes it a must for termination of employment, if the servant does not resume duty after remaining on leave for a continuous period of five years, or after the expiry of his/her leave remains absent from duty otherwise than on foreign service or on account of suspension, for any period which together with the period of the leave granted to him exceeds five years, he/she shall unless Government in view of the exceptional circumstances of the case otherwise determine, be removed from service.”
By ordering that there shall be no work no pay for Smt Sarangi for the period of her unauthorised absence, the Secretary has illegally granted her leave without pay, which contravenes the above quoted sub-rule (1) of Rule 72.
On the otherhand, allowing her to continue in the post where she was only to face the disciplinary action for removal from the job she had abandoned for more than 10 years, the Secretary has wilfully contravened the provisions of sub-rule (2) of Rule 72 of the service code.
Sir, I have reason to apprehend that you are sleeping over this illegality, because Smt. Sarangi’s husband is used by the Chief Minister to weaken the Bhasha Andolan.
You have, as the head of the executive government in the Department of Higher Education, a responsibility to ensure that laws of the land are not broken like this under political manipulation by dishonest fellows.
Therefore, I request you to dismiss Smt. Sarangi from service on the basis of the proven fact, that she had willfully abandoned her duties and had remained unauthorisedly absent from her duty for more than 10 years and thereby had committed serious crime against ten batches of the students of Botany that had admitted themselves in the UN (Auto) College of Sc.& Tech., Adashpur for proper education.
Thus saying, I have requested the Secretary to inform me of his actions in this matter.
I have concluded the mail with the words:
“I am deliberately sending copies of this mail to the Governor of Orissa, the Chief Minister of Orissa and the Chief Secretary of Orissa with a request that they may peruse this mail and do the needful to save the State from illegality so rampant as shown. I am specifically attracting attention of the Chief Minister to the apprehension spelt out in this communication that the Secretary of Higher Education is involved with the illegality under his pressure.