Bhubaneswar — The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has exposed large-scale irregularities in the functioning of Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) in Odisha, where junior and assistant engineers allegedly diverted ₹148.75 crore meant for tribal welfare projects into personal transactions over a five-year period.
The audit, tabled in the State Assembly on Wednesday, covered 11 ITDAs between 2018-19 and 2022-23, and revealed systemic lapses in internal controls, procurement, and project execution.
Funds Meant for ST Welfare Diverted
During the audit period, the Odisha government released ₹1,709.47 crore to ITDAs for development works in Scheduled Areas. Of this, ₹1,190.44 crore (70%) was utilized. However, instead of routing expenses through ITDA personal ledger accounts as mandated under the Odisha Public Works Department (OPWD) Code, payments for departmental works were diverted to bank accounts of junior engineers (JEs) and assistant engineers (AEs).
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From these accounts, engineers allegedly conducted personal transactions through ATM withdrawals, UPI transfers, cheques, POS payments, and even insurance premiums and mobile recharges, indicating suspected misappropriation.
Questionable Project Execution and Procurement
The CAG highlighted glaring gaps in project execution:
- 544 works were estimated without mandatory site visits, drawings, or design plans, making cost deviations unverifiable.
- Many invoices were missing, and those available carried incorrect dates, non-existent GST numbers, or irregular entries.
- Input materials worth ₹54.25 crore were procured from co-operative societies like the Odisha Consumer Co-operative Federation Ltd and Regional Co-operative Marketing Society without competitive tendering, despite a June 2025 order requiring such societies to compete transparently in open bids.
These lapses, the CAG observed, reflected a pattern of systemic negligence and disregard for financial discipline.
Institutional Failure and Next Steps
The CAG’s report attributes the large-scale fraud to serious failures of internal control mechanisms within ITDAs, allowing engineers unchecked access to public funds. By preparing their own cost estimates and raising running account bills, JEs and AEs effectively acted as both certifiers and beneficiaries.
The revelations are likely to trigger fresh scrutiny from the State Finance Department and Vigilance authorities. Experts believe this misuse of tribal development funds not only undermines accountability but also robs Scheduled Tribes of critical infrastructure and welfare initiatives.
The state government has yet to announce punitive measures, but the scale of the misappropriation underscores the urgent need for reforms in fund flow, procurement practices, and independent project verification.
