KANPUR: District magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh on Thursday dismissed four contractual employees following the detection of financial irregularities in development works carried out under MGNREGA in Sebasu Gram Panchayat of Bilhour Development Block.The action was taken based on a report submitted by an inquiry committee constituted under the directives of CDO Diksha Jain. The committee found additional programme officers Preeti Agnihotri and Deep Singh, along with technical assistants Indra Kumar and Pramod Kumar, guilty of negligence in discharging their duties, violating MGNREGA guidelines, and committing financial irregularities. Consequently, all four were dismissed from service.The three-member inquiry panel examined MGNREGA works executed in Sebasu Gram Panchayat between 2022тАУ23 and 2024тАУ25, along with related payment records. During the investigation, irregularities amounting to approximately тВ╣20.58 lakh were uncovered. The probe revealed that prescribed norms for execution of works and payment procedures were frequently violated, and in several cases, payments were released without proper scrutiny of records.The committee also observed that serious lapses occurred during the tenure of the accused officials, and their explanations were found unsatisfactory. In a related development, additional programme officer Shishir Kumar was issued a stern warning.Officials said that proceedings have been initiated to recover the misappropriated funds. Show-cause notices have also been served to the then Accountant and the Block Development Officer/Programme Officer for alleged negligence in supervisory responsibilities.The CDO reiterated that transparency and accountability in development works remain the administrationтАЩs toppriority, adding that strict action will be taken against anyone found involved in financial irregularities or negligence at any level.
