The BJP government in Odisha enhanced the financial power of block development officers (BDOs) and government engineers at various levels.
This decision will lead to the curtailment of powers of the elected representatives of the panchayat samitis, most of which are controlled by the opposition BJD.
The decision, which is set to spark fresh political wrangling, was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday.
This was among a total of five proposals approved by the cabinet at the meeting. The other decisions included sanction of a new city on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar at an estimated cost of Rs 8,179 crore.
The financial power of BDOs to sanction bills of Panchayat Samiti works was raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, without further countersignature of the chairpersons of the block-level local bodies, said Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja.
Further, the authority to accord administrative approval of plans and estimates for Panchayat Samiti projects has also been delegated to the executive officers of Zilla Parishads, he said.
Under general developmental schemes, BDOs can now approve projects up to Rs 20 lakh, while the Panchayat Samiti chairpersons can approve projects up to Rs 50 lakh, and the executive officer of Zilla Parishads will now exercise approval powers for projects above Rs 50 lakh, he added.
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For general developmental schemes (except MGNREGA), the junior or assistant engineers will now accord technical sanction up to Rs 5 lakh, while assistant executive engineers have been empowered to accord sanction to projects from Rs 5 lakh up to Rs 20 lakh. Executive engineers will sanction projects from Rs 20 lakh up to Rs 1 crore, superintending engineers (SEs) from Rs 1 crore up to Rs 4 crore, and projects above Rs 4 crore will be sanctioned by the chief engineer.
For developmental works under the MGNREGA scheme, the panchayat technical assistants will now accord technical sanction up to Rs 5 lakh, while the sanctioning power of all other engineers remains the same.
The cabinet also approved the New City Development Scheme of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).
The new city will be developed over 800 acres of land on Gothapatna, Malipada and Daspur on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar with public and private funding over the next 15 years, Ahuja said.
The state government also approved Rs 118.98 crore for the procurement of 428 ambulances and a one-time settlement scheme for e-challans issued to vehicle owners for violation of the MV Act, he said.
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He said the scheme will remain in force for six months, during which vehicle owners can settle their pending e-challans.
