Bhubaneswar: Misappropriation of funds amounting to a staggering Rs 224 crore has been unearthed in various cooperative banks across Odisha. The revelation was made by cooperation minister Pradeep Bal Samanta in response to a query raised by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati during the assembly session on Wednesday.
The alleged financial irregularities have been detected at the Odisha State Cooperative Bank (OSCB), 17 Central Cooperative Banks (CCB) and 13 Urban Cooperative Banks (UCB).Samanta disclosed that a sum of Rs 147 crore was identified as misappropriated funds in OSCB, Bhubaneswar and in 17 CCBs, while Rs 77.45 crore was detected in the UCBs.
According to the minister’s reply, as of June 30, an amount of Rs 14 crore had been recovered from the CCBs and orders had been issued to recover an additional Rs 11 crore. Similarly, Rs 1.18 crore had been recovered from UCBs, with orders to recover a further Rs 19 crore has already been issued.
The minister said that in case of OSCB and CCBs, 1,334 individuals were found to be implicated and action had been initiated against 521. Similarly, in the case of UCBs, 370 persons were found to be involved and action had been taken against 185.
Following the revelation, Congress and the ruling BJP vehemently criticized the previous BJD govt, holding it responsible for corruption in the cooperative banks.
Congress MLA Pabitra Saunta asserted that during the 24-year rule of BJD govt, massive corruption had taken place. BJP MLA Raghuram Machha said the corruption that took place during the previous govt’s rule would be exposed and appropriate action would be taken.

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