Bhubaneswar, Oct 27 Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday said his government has zero tolerance for corruption, while pointing out that 41 officials have been dismissed and pension payments of 91 retired employees have been stopped in the past two and a half years for indulging in graft.
Addressing an event to observe ‘Vigilance Awareness Week-2026’ here, he said that since the BJP formed government in Odisha in June 2024, the Vigilance Department has taken stringent action against several government officials, including an IAS officer and eight chief engineer-rank officers.
Forty-one government employees have been dismissed from service, and the pensions of 91 retired employees have been stopped following their conviction in corruption cases, he informed the gathering.
While the conviction rate in graft cases stood at 50 per cent in 2025, it has reached 65 per cent till September this year, Majhi said, adding that the Odisha vigilance department has been receiving praise for achieving such a high conviction rate.
He said the Odisha government no longer functions from an “ivory tower” and reaches out to people to listen to their concerns.
The BJP government’s ‘Janasunani’ (public grievance redressal) programme is a significant step toward curbing corruption at the grassroots, Majhi said.
The chief minister further said good governance was not merely about formulating policies and schemes. Its true essence lies in curbing corruption and ensuring that allocated funds reach the intended beneficiaries, he asserted.
Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile system, Majhi claimed that corruption has been eradicated at the grassroots by leveraging technology.
“Diversion of funds has been completely stopped. This system is nothing short of a divine blessing for the poor,” he said.
The chief minister said the ‘Odisha IT Policy’ has been approved to facilitate the application of modern technology to curb corruption, while a ‘Preventive Vigilance Research Wing’ has been created to identify corruption-prone areas and corrupt individuals.
Vigilance Director Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa highlighted the department’s achievements and informed that a total of 516 criminal cases against 890 people, including 134 class-I officers, were registered and 537 officers and others were arrested between June 12, 2024, and October 26 this year.
The department has unearthed disproportionate assets worth Rs 332 crore during the period, he said.
(PTI News)
