PEO Distributes Money To Arrange Crowd For Pandian’s Event

Jajpur: At a time when the Opposition parties have been questioning Odisha 5T Secretary VK Pandian’s visit to various districts, a Panchayat Extension Officer (PEO) allegedly distributed money among people to arrange crowd for the top official’s public meeting in Binjharpur area of Jajpur district on August 31, media reports said. A video of the incident has gone viral on various social media platforms. Moreover, the accused PEO of Mansada panchayat, identified as Gopal Mohanty, allegedly did so at the behest of Minister and Binjharpur MLA Pramila Mallik, reports added.

As per the reports, the PEO, despite being a government employee, was seen distributing money among locals on Mallikapur road in Dasarathpur block of the district to garner participants for a motorcycle rally for the 5T Secretary’s public meeting at Baruneswar Ground in Binjharpur area.

Later, hundreds of men reached the meeting site in a motorcycle rally raising slogans. While questions were raised over such a large number of supporters of VK Pandian in Binjharpur constituency, the viral video has seemingly unraveled the truth.

The matter has drawn sharp criticism from various political leaders. Condemning the act, Congress spokesperson Padmakar Guru said, “The PEO has violated the norms of a government employee. This is unfortunate. The District Collector should dismiss him from the service.”