A major administrative lapse has come to light in Odisha's Gajapati district, where a retired primary school headmaster has been allegedly drawing a double pension for over fifteen years. The fraud, amounting to thousands of rupees monthly, was enabled by a significant procedural failure in the state's pension system.
The Unfolding of a 15-Year Scam
The case involves Radhakrishna Acharya, the retired headmaster of Project Upper Primary School in Betarasingh. According to officials, Acharya retired on September 30, 2010. Shockingly, from the very next day, October 1, 2010, he began receiving two separate pension payments simultaneously.
These payments were issued from two different government treasuries: the special treasury in Berhampur (Ganjam) and the sub-treasury at R. Udayagiri (Gajapati). His monthly pension was sanctioned at Rs 7,295. The double disbursement meant he was illegally receiving approximately double this amount every month for a decade and a half.
Procedural Lapse and Duplicate Authorizations
The Odisha Controller of Accounts (CoA), which uncovered the irregularity, traced the root cause to a manual processing error. The initial pension proposal for Acharya was submitted by the then District Inspector of Schools (DIS) in Paralakemundi and countersigned by the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Mohana on February 14, 2011.
In a baffling repeat, the DIS office in Paralakhemundi submitted a second pension proposal for the same individual, again countersigned by the BDO, on April 12, 2011. Because the pension authorization process was manual and not system-based at the time, the office processed the second request, creating a parallel payment stream.
The CoA also found that Acharya received his gratuity twice — once for Rs 2,36,735 and again for Rs 2,40,735 on different dates, further amplifying the financial loss to the exchequer.
Probe Launched into Administrative Negligence
Following the discovery, the CoA has directed the Block Development Officer and Block Education Officer (BEO) of Mohana to conduct a detailed inquiry and submit a factual report within 15 days. The CoA has termed this a major procedural lapse reflecting serious administrative negligence by the officials responsible for verifying and forwarding pension proposals.
Mayadhar Sahu, the District Education Officer (DEO) of Gajapati, confirmed the probe is ongoing. He indicated that the retired teacher may have knowingly drawn the double pension to obtain unauthorized benefits. Narendra Behera, the BEO of Mohana, stated that an inquiry has been initiated and a report will be submitted soon.
There is currently no clarity on whether the DIS and BDO officials involved in the two sanction orders in February and April 2011 were the same individuals or different. "That is part of the probe," DEO Sahu said. Attempts to reach Radhakrishna Acharya for his comments were unsuccessful.
This case highlights critical vulnerabilities in manual administrative systems and raises serious questions about oversight and accountability in the disbursement of government pensions in Odisha.
